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This Is Modern Art
 
 

This Is Modern Art (Paperback)

by Matthew Collings (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 271 pages
  • Publisher: Phoenix; New Ed edition (6 Jul 2000)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1841881007
  • ISBN-13: 978-1841881003
  • Product Dimensions: 21.8 x 18.4 x 2.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 25,294 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #22 in  Books > Art, Architecture & Photography > Architecture > By Chronology > Pop Art to Electronic Art: From 1960
    #23 in  Books > Art, Architecture & Photography > Art Issues > Reference > Art

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

Matthew Collings has already established a reputation for himself as one of the most irreverent and original commentators on the contemporary art world, with his books Blimey! From Bohemia to Britpop and It Hurts: New York Art from Warhol to Now. With the publication of This is Modern Art, Collings has ordered an even bigger canvas to sketch his own uniquely original version of contemporary art today, which he sees as both increasingly popular but also at different points "glamorous, mysterious, sexy, soulful, macabre, gloomy, quirky, kinky and funny". Written to accompany the television series of the same name, This is Modern Art is an in-your-face guide to modern art from Goya's "Disasters of War" to Gillian Wearing's prize-winning video of the police. Along the way, Collings addresses the questions which have both defined and plagued perplexed responses to modern art, including its desire to shock, its questionable aesthetic value, its humour and its blankness. As it moves along in a style which is at times infuriating but always direct and funny, This is Modern Art points out how far we've come since Picasso and Matisse, reverses out of the cul-de-sac of postmodernism, waves the flag for New British Artists like Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin and Sarah Lucas, and ultimately leaves his audience with a streetwise, upbeat book on the abiding value of modern art. --Jerry Brotton


Product Description

Modern art today is a cow cut in half with a chainsaw, floating in a glass tank. A house cast in concrete. The London Underground map with all the station names changes - the Circle Line stations are comedians, the Northern Line stations are philosophers. A tent embroidered with the names of everyone the artist who set up the tent has ever slept with. But what does it all mean? What is Modern Art? Why do we like/hate it? Can anybody do it? Is it always modern? Who started it? In this refreshing and extremely accessible book Matthew Collings tells the story of modern art and our modern attitude to it. It combines hard information on major artists and movements - what really happened - with ordinary reflections: modern art is intimidating and unfathomable to many but Matthew Collings cuts through this barrier by asking all the kinds of questions many of us will have asked and been puzzled by. He will compare Goya to Duchamp and Picasso, Rothko to Yves Klein; he will look at the role of African tribal art in the rise of Modernism and Punk Rock in the rise of Post-Modernism. This will become a classic book of its kind, quirky, culty and great fun.

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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

13 Reviews
5 star:
 (7)
4 star:
 (4)
3 star:
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Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Breezy and informal introduction to modern art, 4 Dec 2002
Collings has a breezy writing style that exactly matches the way he talks on television during the Turner Prize or on one of his documentaries. It won't appeal to all readers, but if you've got a sense of humour about modern art (for example you found Craig-Martin's Oak Tree in the Tate Modern amusing), you'll definitely like this book. Collings isn't afraid to tell you that he doesn't really know what some pieces of art are about, or that he is only guessing. I've re-read this book several times, and I still enjoy it.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, 18 Mar 2008
I was so exhilarated by Collings' Channel 4 mini-series "This is civilisation" that I had to search the web to find something similar in book form. I didn't, but came across This is modern art, with its amazon.co.uk collection of high ratings, which convinced me to take the plunge. I don't know, this may be a personal issue, but I think I can generally appreciate good writting, even when it's not to my taste. This book, however, I found confusedly written, with no flow and no inspiration. As I say, it may be just me, or it may be that Collings comes across better on tv. Nonetheless, I thought it appropriate and necessary to add my view as a healthcheck on the total.
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Explaining how great the Master Collings is, 29 Dec 2001
By A Customer
Reading this book was a really refreshing experience. Matthew Collings must be one of the only art critics in all history who A: Knows something about art and B: Doesn't talk complete bull****. As an art lover and artist my self I can honestly say this is one of the most humourous, truthful and enlightening books I have read in a long, long time.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Idiosyncratic introduction to contemporary art
Well-illustrated and easy to read but highly idiosyncratic and selective. Collings is good on those artists he knows personally or has interviewed for his TV shows but this is to... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Johnny Blue

4.0 out of 5 stars Something to get your teeth into
Collings' writing style will not be for everyone. He can be quite infuriatingly dense about some artists or concepts, and I found myself having to reread some sentences several... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Mrs. K. A. Wheatley

4.0 out of 5 stars i really enjoyed flicking through this one!
perfect for an night in with a cup of cocoa. This is the ultimate read for the modern art lover.Plenty of clear images, Matthew Collings gives an insightful, and easy to... Read more
Published on 6 Dec 2001

3.0 out of 5 stars Fresh and Funky v's Pretentious and Frustrating
This book is about Matthew Collins as much as it is about Modern Art. His affected, dramatic writing dominates the book in what I, in my more subdued moods would call playful and... Read more
Published on 26 Sep 2001 by harleyripster@hotmail.com

5.0 out of 5 stars The Art Students New Bible
This is without doubt the best book on Modern Art available. Making the long-winded flowery drivel of the majority of art writers seem redundant, Collings has tapped into the... Read more
Published on 26 Jun 2001 by Mr. C. Smithson

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliantly constructed piece for anyone interested in art
Matthew Collings has a unique explanatory style that appeals to expert and novice alike. Experts admire his knowledge and skill in condensing down even the hardest subject into a... Read more
Published on 1 Nov 2000

4.0 out of 5 stars The ultimate guide to modern art.
Matthew Collings is the ultimate guide to Modern Art. His critical approach is refreshingly unpretentious and he trawls through his baffling world of pickled cows and wobbling... Read more
Published on 7 May 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fantastic Book!
If you loved Blimey! then this book is even better, offering an excellent overview of the world of Modern Art. Read more
Published on 2 Dec 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars A refreshing funny and deceptively scholarly survey.
THIS IS MODERN ART. MATTHEW COLLINGS. No deconstructionist labyrinths; no art-historical jargon: just sensitive reflective reactions to the unique derivative (my comma key does... Read more
Published on 23 Jul 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars This book should win a Turner Prize
I think Matthew Collings in fantastic. Modern art's manifesto has mythologised the role of the artist and Collings de-mythologises the artist, but in a way that allows you to... Read more
Published on 11 Jul 1999

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