Cultures in Contention

The editors argue for a political understanding of art directed towards progessive social change. Political cultural work is seen as a process of redefining one's reality and of naming sources of oppression. The essays describe work in performance, theatre, installation, music and media. Biographical notes. Circa 140 bibl. ref

Art and Feminism

Authoritative publication focusing on the role of theory in the evolution of feminist art. Phelan's essay surveying American and British feminist art produced between 1960-2000 traces the "shifting geographies of feminism" by situating diverse formal strategies used by feminist artists within the contexts of abstract expressionim, minimalism, conceptual art, performance art and photographic performance. Her analysis of the ideological forces within representational systems is informed by postructuralism and psychoanalytic theories of sexual difference. Issues of identity, race, sexuality, class, gender and age are considered in relation to the marginalization of women, the objectification of the female body, and essentialism. Includes documentation of numerous artworks and texts by artists and authors working in disciplines of feminist philosophy, psychoanalysis, art history, film theory and literary criticism. Biographical notes. Index of names. Bibliography. Circa 675 bibl. ref