Art Since 1940: Strategies of Being

Rating:
Summary: a must for every art student
Review: art since 1940 is a well researched and methodically presented book on contemorary art and art makers. the introduction and opening chapters deal with movements such as surrealism and are a very good lead up into the art after 1940. the author has dealt with various movements and expanded on specific artists from each of these phases in art. one does feel however that the portions on certain artists were sketchier than others, especially with regards to the visual material provided. also the book could have been planned better in terms of the placement of photographs along with the corresponding text. All in all, however, as an art student, I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone who ever wondered what all that 'thrown about paint'in jackson pollock's work was all about. The life history of the artists was well researched and wasnt superficial like a lot of books on art and provided a valuable insight into the art work itself.

Rating:
Summary: No Photography!
Review: By this book, 1940 marked the time that photography died and was replaced by vast amounts of performance art. Can you seriously present a "survey" of contemporary art without even acknowledging photography in any form?

Rating:
Summary: excellent!
Review: I purchased this book for my Contemporary Art class. It's chock full of great information, and lots of excellent quality samples of art throughout. Worth getting if you're interested in 'educating' yourself in the vernacular of art -- both modernism and contemporary.

Rating:
Summary: Bad Religion
Review: This book by Finberg is professionally written, edited, and with lots of high quality color examples of the art being discussed. It covers a wide range of individual artists and art movements from the 1940's onward. The problem with book is that the range is not wide enough. Fienberg doesn't give equal treatment to art forms, and the visual arts even begin to take a backseat to performances and installations. It can be argued that new genres of art have emerged and should be discussed, but certainly not at the expense of other forms in a book presented as "art since the 1940's". There is a lot of art since the 1940's that isn't mentioned, though it should be, either because of significant cultural impact, or because of influence on artists that are discussed in the book. For example, there is no mention of animation of any kind, and relatively little coverage of realism, figurative work, design, comics, or advertising. Whether certain people like it or not, Ansel Adams, Walt Disney, Gottfried Helnwein, H.R. Giger, Dr. Suess, and Playboy magazine have had a major impact and more worldwide recognition than virtually all of the artists Fineberg discusses. While some may cast these off as unworthy of discussion in a book about "high art", knowledge of the evolution and integration of the "low arts" is essential to understand concepts of "pop art", "appropriation", "feminist art", and "post modernism". Fineberg's tone is celebratory with certain artists more than others, and makes odd choices on which artists to give the most attention to. The reason I titled this review "bad religion" is because this book is like a sermon about art by someone who is presenting their own doctrine, rather than telling the whole story. If you read this hoping to be educated about art, you are out of luck, unless your goal is to sound intellectual while sipping wine at the opening reception of the next retrospective show of minimalist art in Los Angeles, New York, or Chicago. Oh, it might also be useful if you are writing a paper for an art history class...