In this devastating critique of the art establishment, first-time author Lynne Munson demolishes the postmodern idea that art can't be separated from politics and defends the traditional belief that art ought to be judged primarily by timeless aesthetic standards. Indeed, Munson shows that this view infects not just museums, but the whole art world, from art- history departments in universities to the National Endowment for the Arts. Munson takes readers on an eye-opening tour of all these places. She reveals how Harvard's art-history program, once the envy of every school in the land, has decayed into a place where students learn fancy theories but gain little practical knowledge of art objects. Instead, it's that the current art establishment, at war against the notion of quality, is too confused to recognize any of this.
Exhibitionism is a profoundly sensible book that belongs on the reading list of every art fan.
Museums and the Interpretation of Visual Culture focuses on objects and meaning in the museum. Questions about the character of visual narratives, cultural difference and the construction of identities present the museum as part of cultural politics. Lakota Ghost Dance Shirt formerly in Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow. The construction of meaning from material things is discussed in relation to individual interpretive processes and also to interpretive communities. Eilean Hooper-Greenhill has taught in schools, colleges, museums and galleries.