Shows of Force

Power, Politics, and Ideology in Art Exhibitions

Nonfiction, Art & Architecture, General Art, Reference
Cover of the book Shows of Force by Timothy W. Luke, Duke University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Timothy W. Luke ISBN: 9780822398066
Publisher: Duke University Press Publication: February 17, 1992
Imprint: Duke University Press Books Language: English
Author: Timothy W. Luke
ISBN: 9780822398066
Publisher: Duke University Press
Publication: February 17, 1992
Imprint: Duke University Press Books
Language: English

It has long been considered a mark of naïveté to ask of a work of art: What does it say? But as Timothy W. Luke demonstrates in Shows of Force, artwork is capable of saying plenty, and much of the message resides in the way it is exhibited. By critically examining the exhibition of art in contemporary American museums, Luke identifies how art showings are elaborate works of theater that reveal underlying political, social, and economic agendas.
The first section, “Envisioning a Past, Imagining the West,” looks at art exhibitions devoted to artworks about or from the American West. Luke shows how these exhibitions—displaying nineteenth- and early-twentieth century works by artists such as George Caleb Bingham, Frederic Remington, Frederic Edwin Church, and Georgia O’Keefe—express contemporary political agendas in the way the portray “the past” and shape new visions of “the West.”
In “Developing the Present, Defining a World,” Luke considers artists from the post-1945 era, including Ilya Kabokov, Hans Haacke, Sue Coe, Roger Brown, and Robert Longo. Recent art exhibits, his analysis reveals, attempt to develop politically charged conceptions of the present, which in turn struggle to define the changing contemporary world and art’s various roles within it.
Luke brings to light the contradictions encoded in the exhibition of art and, in doing so, illuminates the political realities and cultural ideologies of the present. Shows of Force offers a timely and surely controversial contribution to current discussions of the politics of exhibiting art.

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

It has long been considered a mark of naïveté to ask of a work of art: What does it say? But as Timothy W. Luke demonstrates in Shows of Force, artwork is capable of saying plenty, and much of the message resides in the way it is exhibited. By critically examining the exhibition of art in contemporary American museums, Luke identifies how art showings are elaborate works of theater that reveal underlying political, social, and economic agendas.
The first section, “Envisioning a Past, Imagining the West,” looks at art exhibitions devoted to artworks about or from the American West. Luke shows how these exhibitions—displaying nineteenth- and early-twentieth century works by artists such as George Caleb Bingham, Frederic Remington, Frederic Edwin Church, and Georgia O’Keefe—express contemporary political agendas in the way the portray “the past” and shape new visions of “the West.”
In “Developing the Present, Defining a World,” Luke considers artists from the post-1945 era, including Ilya Kabokov, Hans Haacke, Sue Coe, Roger Brown, and Robert Longo. Recent art exhibits, his analysis reveals, attempt to develop politically charged conceptions of the present, which in turn struggle to define the changing contemporary world and art’s various roles within it.
Luke brings to light the contradictions encoded in the exhibition of art and, in doing so, illuminates the political realities and cultural ideologies of the present. Shows of Force offers a timely and surely controversial contribution to current discussions of the politics of exhibiting art.

More books from Duke University Press

Cover of the book The Anthropology of Christianity by Timothy W. Luke
Cover of the book Children of Facundo by Timothy W. Luke
Cover of the book Bhangra and Asian Underground by Timothy W. Luke
Cover of the book Civilization and Monsters by Timothy W. Luke
Cover of the book Orgasmology by Timothy W. Luke
Cover of the book Energy without Conscience by Timothy W. Luke
Cover of the book Saving the Security State by Timothy W. Luke
Cover of the book Clairvoyance (For Those In The Desert) by Timothy W. Luke
Cover of the book Alterity Politics by Timothy W. Luke
Cover of the book Incognegro by Timothy W. Luke
Cover of the book The Republic of Therapy by Timothy W. Luke
Cover of the book Governing Gaza by Timothy W. Luke
Cover of the book Mohawk Interruptus by Timothy W. Luke
Cover of the book Queer Iberia by Timothy W. Luke
Cover of the book China Urban by Timothy W. Luke
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