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ANNOTATING ART'S HISTORIES

Cosmopolitan Modernism

Kobena Mercer ed., Cosmopolitan Modernism, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press / 
London: inIVA, 2005, 208 pp., 30 color illustrations. 
ISBN-10: 0-262-63321-3. ISBN-13: 978-0-262-63321-5

Cosmopolitan Modernism, the first book in the Annotating Art’s Histories series, revisits the period in which modernist attitudes took shape, examining the ways in which a shared history of art and ideas was experienced in different nations and cultures. Joining cultural studies debates that have sought to re-think the ‘cosmopolitan’ from the bottom-up, this volume addresses the notion of the modern artist as world-citizen. Original essays by leading art historians and curators trace the dynamic interplay of cultures across the story of modern art, looking at moments of crisis and innovation in modernism’s cross-cultural past, from constructivism, surrealism, and abstract expressionism to neo-concrete art. Contributions include an interview with Professor Emeritus Partha Mitter on the reception of modernism in India; an exposition of the aesthetic philosophy of C.L.R James; and the first English translation of the influential essay, ‘Theory of the Non-Object,’ by Brazilian poet and writer Ferrra Gullar (1959). Mercer’s chapter examines the problem-solving trajectory pursued by Romare Bearden from the 1930s to the 1960s, demonstrating how the collage principle of his Photomontage Projections (1964 onwards) resolved issues in ‘The Negro Artist’s Dilemma’ that were theorised in 1946.

Contents:

  • ‘Introduction’, Kobena Mercer, pp.6-23
  • ‘Reflections on Modern Art and National Identity in Colonial India: An Interview’, Partha Mitter, pp.24-49
  • ‘White Walls, White Skins: Cosmopolitanism and Colonialism in Inter-war Modernist Architecture’, Paul Overy, pp.50-67
  • ‘Surrealism Faced with Cultural Difference’, Michael Richardson, pp.68-85
  • ‘The Post-modern Modernism of Wifredo Lam’, Lowery Stokes Sims, pp.86-101
  • ‘Norman Lewis: ‘How to Get Black’’, Ann Eden Gibson, pp.102-123
  • ‘Romare Bearden, 1964: Collage as Kunstwollen’, Kobena Mercer, pp.124-145
  • ‘C.L.R. James as a Critical Theorist of Modernist Art’, David Craven, pp.146-167
  • ‘Neoconcretism and Minimalism: On Ferreira Gullar’s Theory of the Non-Object’, Michael Asbury , pp.168-189

Kobena Mercer (series editor) / Projects /Contact