The Sphinx Contemplating Napoleon
Global Perspectives on Contemporary Art and Difference
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Published:25th Feb '21
Should be back in stock very soon
In a collection of her key writings, Gilane Tawadros sheds new light on contemporary art in a globalised world, addressing issues such as difference, representation, (mis-) translation and art writing.
Built upon the politics of difference, The Sphinx Contemplating Napoleon examines artistic practice through an international lens. This vibrant collection of essays and writings – produced in different cultural contexts and collected over two decades – introduces the reader to the thought, method of analysis and everyday experiences that have emerged from an increasingly globalized world, presenting a potentially radical frame through which to understand contemporary art.
Gilane Tawadros experiments with methodology to draw cultural difference to the surface: from traditional criticism to fictional narratives, this critical variety mirrors her embrace of different perspectives and hints to the myriad ways in which contemporary art is created and presented. Using these techniques she explores the work of leading artists such as Adel Abdessemed, Richard Avedon, Sonia Boyce and Frank Bowling, offering expert guidance on the rich cultural and historical contexts of global and contemporary art through intimate engagement with lived experience.
Playing with forms of writing, from critical analyses to fictional narratives, The Sphinx Contemplating Napoleon functions as a practice-based meditation on how to write about contemporary art.
Amongst pioneering rethink of the art history-culture status quo, Gilane’s writings illuminate the struggle to forge conceptual tackle for today’s diverse art world and cultural difference – critical voicing that emerges less from theorising than from “thinking through art practices”. * Sarat Maharaj, Professor of Visual Arts and Knowledge Systems, Malmö Art Academy, Lund University, Sweden *
Based on the author’s profound knowledge of the global contemporary art scene … this book provides a new art historical narrative, one that is more global, more inclusive and nuanced … A must read for students of contemporary art and visual culture, race, and the postcolonial body. * Salah M Hassan, Goldwin Smith Professor, Cornell University, USA *
Richly illustrated, Gilane Tawadros’ beautifully observed book is a timely and prescient account of how representation remains a pivotal question for artists and society at large. Peppered with many delightful intercultural and intertextual references, The Sphinx Contemplating Napoleon is a must read in our de-colonising times. * Sonia Boyce, artist and Professor of Black Art and Design, University of the Arts London, UK *
The Sphinx Contemplating Napoleon: Global Perspectives on Contemporary Art and Difference strikes a balance between seeing contemporary art on its own terms and understanding art within the terms set forth for it. When the latter is at odds with the former, Gilane Tawadros makes her greatest observations in a set of clear and evocative essays on a range of artists. All are superbly written, carefully argued down to the details and compelling to the end. Though the stated focus of “post-independence Egypt and post-war Britain” is maintained throughout, larger concerns of the value that art draws internationally is lucidly presented. This book continues Tawadros’ decades long project of internationalism in art. * Courtney J. Martin, Yale Center for British Art, USA *
ISBN: 9781501363337
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 934g
350 pages