Sacred Exchanges

Images in Global Context

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Aesthetics, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Cultural Studies, Ethnic Studies
Cover of the book Sacred Exchanges by Robyn Ferrell, Columbia University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Robyn Ferrell ISBN: 9780231504423
Publisher: Columbia University Press Publication: March 27, 2012
Imprint: Columbia University Press Language: English
Author: Robyn Ferrell
ISBN: 9780231504423
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Publication: March 27, 2012
Imprint: Columbia University Press
Language: English

As the international art market globalizes the indigenous image, it changes its identity, status, value, and purpose in local and larger contexts. Focusing on a school of Australian Aboriginal painting that has become popular in the contemporary art world, Robyn Ferrell traces the influence of cultural exchanges on art, the self, and attitudes toward the other.

Aboriginal acrylic painting, produced by indigenous women artists of the Australian Desert, bears a superficial resemblance to abstract expressionism and is often read as such by viewers. Yet to see this art only through a Western lens is to miss its unique ontology, logics of sensation, and rich politics and religion. Ferrell explores the culture that produces these paintings and connects its aesthetic to the brutal environmental and economic realities of its people. From here, she travels to urban locales, observing museums and department stores as they traffic interchangeably in art and commodities.

Ferrell ties the history of these desert works to global acts of genocide and dispossession. Rethinking the value of the artistic image in the global market and different interpretations of the sacred, she considers photojournalism, ecotourism, and other sacred sites of the western subject, investigating the intersection of modern art and postmodern culture. She ultimately challenges the primacy of the "European gaze" and its fascination with sacred cultures, constructing a more balanced intercultural dialogue that deemphasizes the aesthetic of the real championed by western philosophy.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

As the international art market globalizes the indigenous image, it changes its identity, status, value, and purpose in local and larger contexts. Focusing on a school of Australian Aboriginal painting that has become popular in the contemporary art world, Robyn Ferrell traces the influence of cultural exchanges on art, the self, and attitudes toward the other.

Aboriginal acrylic painting, produced by indigenous women artists of the Australian Desert, bears a superficial resemblance to abstract expressionism and is often read as such by viewers. Yet to see this art only through a Western lens is to miss its unique ontology, logics of sensation, and rich politics and religion. Ferrell explores the culture that produces these paintings and connects its aesthetic to the brutal environmental and economic realities of its people. From here, she travels to urban locales, observing museums and department stores as they traffic interchangeably in art and commodities.

Ferrell ties the history of these desert works to global acts of genocide and dispossession. Rethinking the value of the artistic image in the global market and different interpretations of the sacred, she considers photojournalism, ecotourism, and other sacred sites of the western subject, investigating the intersection of modern art and postmodern culture. She ultimately challenges the primacy of the "European gaze" and its fascination with sacred cultures, constructing a more balanced intercultural dialogue that deemphasizes the aesthetic of the real championed by western philosophy.

More books from Columbia University Press

Cover of the book An Ethics for Today by Robyn Ferrell
Cover of the book Subjects of Desire by Robyn Ferrell
Cover of the book Everyday Ethics and Social Change by Robyn Ferrell
Cover of the book Ghalib by Robyn Ferrell
Cover of the book Running Mother and Other Stories by Robyn Ferrell
Cover of the book Learning to Kneel by Robyn Ferrell
Cover of the book Retribution by Robyn Ferrell
Cover of the book Species Concepts and Phylogenetic Theory by Robyn Ferrell
Cover of the book Twentieth-Century Analytic Philosophy by Robyn Ferrell
Cover of the book The Origins of Schizophrenia by Robyn Ferrell
Cover of the book Disaster Deferred by Robyn Ferrell
Cover of the book East Asia Before the West by Robyn Ferrell
Cover of the book Eric Walrond by Robyn Ferrell
Cover of the book Social-Ecological Resilience and Law by Robyn Ferrell
Cover of the book Hollywood's Dirtiest Secret by Robyn Ferrell
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy