"Nearly a century after the Armory Show, avant-garde art remains
misunderstood by mainstream America. In a practical, industrious
country where the fine arts have never been deeply rooted, abstract
and conceptual artists are still too often dismissed as silly,
untalented, or immoral, with art galleries portrayed as snobbish
and greedy. This worsening cultural crisis affects private and
public funding, discourages promising new voices, and threatens
America's creative future. Nancy G. Heller's wonderful book arrives
in the nick of time. Destined to be a classic of public education,
it is lucid, engaging, and ingenious, leading the reader through
the difficulties and strategies of avant-garde art. Intended for
the general audience, the book is also must reading for teachers
throughout the humanities, which have become distracted by jargon
and ideology. Heller is an inspiring role model for university
scholars, who must recover and renew their central mission of
teaching."--Camille Paglia, University Professor and Professor of
Humanities, University of the Art
"This delightful, down-to-earth guide demystifies the act of
looking at modern and contemporary art with clarity and humor,
drawing upon a diverse and wide-ranging array of artworks, which
are abundantly reproduced. It will definitely appeal to novice
viewers perplexed by the enigmas of earthworks and the splatters,
scrapes, and splashes of non-traditional art, and it just may
convince a few skeptics to look for beauty in unexpected places.
"Why a Painting is Like a Pizza" is an ideal book for beginners
because Nancy Heller leads us through the basics of analyzing the
elements of any work of art while sharing tales of her own, often
humorous, peregrinations to museums and galleries. She is an ideal
companion---full of fun, facts, genuine enthusiasm, and a healthy
respect for viewers abilities and their personal responses."--Bay
Hallowell, Coordinator of Special Projects, Youth, and Family
Programs, Philadelphia Museum of Art
"Nancy Heller has wrought a minor miracle. She has written a
book about art that is of interest to both the layperson and the
professional. "Why a Painting Is Like a Pizza" is informative and
highly entertaining. By exploring the context within which art is
made and exhibited, and by probing the criteria for evaluating it,
Heller has constructed a useful framework for looking at art
meaningfully. Without belittling artists and their work, she has
demystified the artistic process. Through her pragmatic, everyday
analogies she helps us see that all art is an act of communication
and that the visitor's response--whatever it might be--is
valid."--Susan S. Badder, Curator of Education, Corcoran Gallery of
Art, Washington, D.C.
"Reading "Why a Painting is Like a Pizza" is like having a
personal guide at your side as you make your way through unfamiliar
territory. We feel that we are in a gallery, engaged in an
engrossing conversation with somebody who knows a great deal about
modern art, but does not pretend to know all the answers, or even
believe that answers are always available. While we hear Nancy
Heller's highly intelligent and often very witty voice throughout
the entire book, we also hear our own, for the author seems to know
what we are thinking, wondering, and even resisting before we have
been able to put our questions and doubts into words. "--Linda
Andre, Program Specialist forTeacher Services, The Sylvia Friedberg
Nachlas Endowed Chair in Museum Education, Department of Education
& Interpretation, The Baltimore Museum of Art
"So much writing on modern art is dessicated intellectualism,
jargon laden, and marinated in theory. Here, instead, we have a
simple and clear presentation, truly accessible to students,
general readers, and museum beginners."--A. Richard Turner, author
of "Inventing Leonardo"
General
Imprint: |
Princeton University Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
October 2002 |
First published: |
October 2002 |
Authors: |
Nancy G. Heller
|
Dimensions: |
228 x 152 x 18mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback - Trade
|
Pages: |
192 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-691-09052-8 |
Categories: |
Books >
Arts & Architecture >
The arts: general issues >
General
|
LSN: |
0-691-09052-1 |
Barcode: |
9780691090528 |
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