Material Imagination
Art in Europe, 1946-72
Art History Special Issues
1. Edition July 2017
224 Pages, Softcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
Short Description
Material Imagination examines the interrelated concepts of matter, materialism, and materiality in postwar European art, from 1946-1972. These eight essays explore artists' methods and materials in order to better understand the social and cultural environments in which their works of art were made. Taken together, these essays demonstrate how an emphasis on materials can affect artistic imagination and lead to a richer framework for critical interpretation.
Material Imagination examines the interrelated concepts of matter, materialism, and materiality in postwar European art, from 1946-1972.
* Provides a unique perspective on European art by prioritizing material dimensions over concept or context, while also paying attention to theoretical and historical concerns
* Explores artists' methods and materials in order to better understand the social and cultural environments in which their works of art were made
* Demonstrates how materials can be harnessed to affect the critical interpretation of artwork
* Brings together exceptional illustrations and new research in eight essays by art historians and scholars
Chapter 1 Material Imagination: Art in Europe, 1946-72 8
Natalie Adamson and Steven Harris
Chapter 2 Black Flowers Blossom: Bachelard, Soulages and the Material Imaginary of Abstract Painting 22
Natalie Adamson
Chapter 3 Materialism and Intersubjectivity in Cobra 44
Karen Kurczynski
Chapter 4 Makeshift Wholes: Interiority and Texture in Postwar British Design 66
Alex Kitnick
Chapter 5 Materializing Modernism in Postwar Italy: Fausto Melotti, Gio Ponti, and the 1961 Esposizione Internazionale del Lavoro 88
Marin R. Sullivan
Chapter 6 L'Optique Moderne: Daniel Spoerri's 'Optical Readymades' 112
Jill Carrick
Chapter 7 Terrain vague: Ben Vautier and the Ecole de Nice 140
Anna Dezeuze
Chapter 8 'Not Yet' Materialized: Carlfriedrich Claus's 'Talking Papers' 164
Sarah E. James
Chapter 9 The Longevity of Roman Opa³ka 188
Alistair Rider
Index 209
Steven Harris is Associate Professor in History of Art, Design and Visual Culture at the University of Alberta, Canada. He works on twentieth-century art in Europe and North America, and is the author of articles on surrealism, postwar abstraction, and Fluxus. He is the author of Surrealist Art and Thought in the 1930's: Art, Politics and the Psyche (2004). His current research project, The Poetics of Disenchantment, investigates both the surrealist movement in the postwar period, and how surrealist ideas and values were taken up or challenged by postwar European collectives like Cobra, the College of Pataphysics, and the Situationist International.
