Return of the Real: Art and Theory at the End of the Century by Hal Foster, - September 1996

MIT Press (MA), September 1996. Trade Paperback. Used - Very Good. ''The Return of the Real' is one of the most cogent and theoretically self-aware readings of contemprary art I have seen.'<BR> -- Howard Singerman, Department of Art History, University of Virginia In 'The Return of the Real' Hal Foster discusses the development of art and theory since 1960, and reorders the relation between prewar and postwar avant-gardes. Opposed to the assumption that contemporary art is somehow belated, he argues that the avant-garde returns to us from the future, repositioned by innovative practice in the present. And he poses this retroactive model of art and theory against the reactionary undoing of progressive culture that is pervasive today. Foster's concise analysis of art practices over the past three decades traces important models at work in art and theory, with special attention to the controversial connections between the two during this period. The author includes a new narrative of the historical avant-garde and concludes with an original reading of our contemporary situation--and what it portends for future practices of art, theory, culture, and politics. 90 illustrations. Previous owner wrote her name on inside cover. Binding is tight no interior marks.