Looking high and low
Subtitle: art and cultural identity
By: edited by Brenda Jo Bright and Liza Bakewell.
Contributors: Bright, Brenda Jo, 1955-; Bakewell, Elizabeth.
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Published: 1995
Place of publication: Tucson, AZ
Language: eng
Number of pages: 210
Subjects: Arts and society -- United States; Popular culture -- United States
Description: Can low riders rightfully be considered art? Why are Chicano murals considered art while graffiti is considered vandalism? What do Native American artisans think about the popular display of their ceremonial objects? How do the "middlebrow" notions of Getty workers influence "highbrow" values at the J. Paul Getty Trust?

Looking High and Low attempts to answer these questions - and the broader question "What is art?" - by bringing together a collection of challenging essays on the meaning of art in cultural context and on the ways that our understandings of art and aesthetics have been influenced by social process and cultural values.

This volume challenges conventional modes of analyzing art. Its ethnographic explorations illuminate the importance of art as a cultural force while creating a greater awareness of the roles that scholars, museum curators, and critics play in the evaluation of art.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.