Sculpture in the Age of Doubt (Aesthetics Today)
In a series of dense, thoughtful essays on sculpture and sculptors from Duchamp to today, McEvilley (art history, Rice Univ.) argues that the dissolution of belief and trust in this century--the rise of skepticism and doubt about universal truth and common assumptions--is reflected in the interdependent development of sculpture and postmodern theory. He is at his best in showing this interdependence in the works of individual artists such as Jannis Kounellis, Lucas Samaras, and Louise Bourgeois, but the reading will be hard going at times for those not deeply immersed in postmodern critical theory. Still, McEvilley does look at the works of art, which ground his discussion, and the essays do reinforce one another in the end. Recommended for academic collections supporting graduate art studies.-Jack Perry Brown, Art Inst. of Chicago Lib.Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.