Art on the Edge and Over: Searching for Art's Meaning in Contemporary Society, 1970s-1990s - Softcover

Recognizing that art at the end of the twentieth century changes too quickly and is too multifaceted and unfamiliar to be automatically understood, Art on the Edge and Over: Searching for Art's Meaning in Contemporary Society explains the intractably avant-garde art of the 1970s, 80s and 90s by searching for art's meaning within the context of popular culture and the common trends that have led to such new forms of expression. This one-of-a-kind resource is composed of 35 easy-to-read, chapter-long essays that each cover a particular deviation from conventional art practices (such as smell as an aesthetic ingredient, shopping as a creative process or blood, pollen, discarded dolls and toxic earth as a medium of expression.) Within each chapter, the theme discussed is illuminated by and elucidates the work of one particular artist (such as Laurie Simmons, Wolfgang Laib, On Kawara, Marina Abramovic, Gilbert and George, David Hammons, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, David Salle, Janine Antoni, Rosemarie Trockel, Andres Serrano, Carolee Schneemann, Barbara Kruger, Vito Acconci, and Mike Kelley). An easy-to-follow guide to the unconventional art of our contemporaries, Art on the Edge and Over is a vital resource for all those interested in art history, studio art, aesthetics, and contemporary society.

"Linda Weintraub is the author of the popular, accessible Art on the Edge and Over: Searching for Artis Meaning in Contemporary Society (1995). She was named the Henry R. Luce Professor of Emerging Arts at Oberlin College in 2000, a multi-year post designed to facilitate the introduction of innovative, interdisciplinary, pedagogical schemes in a curriculum dedicated to fostering the creative process. Weintraub is also a contributor to the international art journal Tema Celeste. The exhibition Is it Art? was mounted in conjunction with Art on the Edge and Over and toured nationally from 1995 to 1997.~From 1982 to 1993, Weintraub served as the first director of the newly opened Edith C. Blum Art Institute located on the Bard College campus. She established a program that originated exhibitions on a broad range of subjects, including ancient Greek and Roman art, explorations of local art traditions, controversial contemporary art, neglected aspects of art history, and reconsiderations of masterworks. During her tenure, Weintraub originated fifty exhibitions and toured fourteen. She also published over twenty related catalogues, including Process and Product: The Making of Eight Contemporary Masterworks, Landmarks: New Site Proposals by Twenty Pioneers of Environmental Art, Art What Thou Eat: Images of Food in American Art, and The Maximal Implications of the Minimal Line. ~Since leaving Bard College, Weintraub has curated The Art of Body Crafting and, with Marketta Sepalla, Animal Anima Animus. Prior to her appointment at Bard, Weintraub was director of the newly constructed art center at Muhlenberg College. She has taught both contemporary art history and studio art and holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Rutgers University."