Power: Its Myths and Mores in American Art, 1961-1991 Book

"A recommended addition to art collections providing informative commentary on contemporary artists." — Booklist

"This provocative catalogue for an exhibition organized by the Indianapolis Museum of Art explores the nature of power and its manifestation in art over the past three decades.... The illustrations are fleshed out with fine essays... " — Publishers Weekly

"Now comes a provocative, tightly organized exhibition at the Indianapolis Museum of Art titled 'Power: Its Myths and Mores in American Art, 1961-1991.' The title itself exudes considerable authority, especially when you see it spelled out in metallic red on the institutional gray of the catalogue's cover.... this exhibition represents an unusually successful marriage of art and theory, of visual pleasure and intellectual skepticism. In the process, it creates a vivid portrait of late-century American society and of the different ways artists have mined it for both source material and targets." — The New York Times

"Well done, indeed." — The Print Collector's Newsletter

Ninety works by twenty-eight artists reflect and criticize the images of power found in the mass media as well as in objects, rituals, and regalia of everyday life in the United States. From Andy Warhol and Frank Stella to Robert Longo and Jenny Holzer, the artists in this exhibit address issues of power through the use of materials and methods of mass communication.

44 color plates, 76 b&w illustrations

Publishers Weekly

This provocative catalogue for an exhibition organized by the Indianapolis Museum of Art explores the nature of power and its manifestation in art over the past three decades. As curator Day ( New Art of Italy ) states in her engaging introduction, the exhibition addresses the ``coercive physical powers . . . and the relationships contained in attitudes of class, race, and gender.'' Concentrating primarily on pop, minimalist and conceptual art, the book features such artists as Andy Warhol, Donald Judd, Barbara Kruger, Robert Longo, Peter Halley and Cindy Sherman. Photographs of the artworks are accompanied by brief explanations of the artists' aesthetic ideas and processes. Chris Burden, for example, has used his own body to ``explore issues of moral and ethical responsibility''; his methods have included being shot and electrocuted. On a milder note, we learn of Nancy Burson's selection of celebrity faces from the database of a machine she calls the ``Interactive Portrait Compositor'' to ``merge and alter,'' revealing ``the homogeneity of the individuals'' our society worships. The illustrations are fleshed out with fine essays by art historians Wallis and Chave and anthropologist Marcus. Illustrated. (Nov.)