In The Queer Art of History Jennifer V. Evans examines postwar and contemporary German history to broadly argue for a practice of queer history that moves beyond bounded concepts and narratives of identity. Drawing on Black feminism, queer of color critique, and trans studies, Evans points out that although many rights for LGBTQI people have been gained in Germany, those rights have not been enjoyed equally. There remain fundamental struggles around whose bodies, behaviors, and communities belong. Evans uses kinship as an analytic category to identify the fraught and productive ways that Germans have confronted race, gender nonconformity, and sexuality in social movements, art, and everyday life. Evans shows how kinship illuminates the work of solidarity and intersectional organizing across difference and offers an openness to forms of contemporary and historical queerness that may escape the archive’s confines. Through forms of kinship, queer and trans people test out new possibilities for citizenship, love, and public and family life in postwar Germany in ways that question claims about liberal democracy, the social contract, and the place of identity in rights-based discourses.

A Companion to American Art presents 35 newly-commissioned essays by leading scholars that explore the methodology, historiography, and current state of the field of American art history. Features contributions from a balance of established and emerging scholars, art and architectural historians, and other specialists Includes several paired essays to emphasize dialogue and debate between scholars on important contemporary issues in American art history Examines topics such as the methodological stakes in the writing of American art history, changing ideas about what constitutes “Americanness,” and the relationship of art to public culture Offers a fascinating portrait of the evolution and current state of the field of American art history and suggests future directions of scholarship

This book is an accessible introduction to the critical theories used in analysing art. It covers a broad range of approaches, presenting individual arguments, controversies and divergent perspectives. This edition has been updated to reflect recent scholarship in contemporary art and has been broken down into smaller sections for greater accessibility. The book begins with a revised discussion of the difference between method and theory. The following chapters apply the varying approaches to works of art, some of them new to this edition. The book ends with a new conclusion that focuses on the way the study of art is informed by theory.

A distinctly queer presence permeates the history of the visual arts — from Michelangelo's David and homoerotic images on ancient Greek vases to Frida Kahlo's self-portraits and the photography of Claude Cahun and Robert Mapplethorpe. The Queer Encyclopedia of the Visual Arts is a comprehensive work showcasing the enormous contribution of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer artists to painting, drawing, photography, printmaking, sculpture, and architecture. International in scope, the volume includes overviews of the various periods in art history, from Classical Art to Contemporary Art and from African Art to Erotic and Pornographic Art; discussions of topics ranging from AIDS Activism in the Arts, Censorship in the Arts, and the Arts and Crafts Movement to Pulp Paperbacks and Their Covers; surveys of the representation of various subjects in the visual arts, from Androgyny to Vampires; and biographical entries on significant figures in the history of art, such as Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, El Greco, Leonardo da Vinci, David Hockney, Ruth Bernhard, Rosa Bonheur, Romaine Brooks, Simeon Solomon, and Nahum Zenil. Includes more than 100 illustrations and photographs.

Contemporary Queer Chinese Art is the first English-language academic book that explores the intersections of queer culture and contemporary Chinese art from the mid-1980s to the present. This book brings together 15 internationally renowned artists, activists, curators and scholars to explore heterogeneous expressions of Chineseness and queerness in contemporary art from China and Chinese diasporas in Asia, Europe and North America. Examining contemporary visual art, performance and activism, this book offers a rich archive of queer Chinese artistic expressions. It provides valuable insights into the status quo and intersectional struggles of Chinese artists who identify themselves as queer and who have associated their work with queer positionalities and perspectives. By sharing personal experiences, art expressions and critical insights about what it means to be queer and Chinese in a transnational context, the book reveals multiple forms and potentialities of queer politics in the domains of art and activism.

The Queer Museum examines how relationships between institutions and LGBTQ+ communities function and how they help to define queer museum practice. Analysing what it means to queer the museum in Western contexts, the book builds upon and challenges texts about inclusionary, activist museum practice and discusses the ways in which Othered communities are engaged with and represented. Arguing that an institution’s understanding of queerness is directly related to the kind, and extent, of change pursued by the museum, the author clarifies that governance structures, staff hierarchies, funding and relationships to queer communities affect the way queering might be pursued. The analysis looks critically at exhibitions and institutions and particularly forefronts the experiences of museum practitioners. It argues that practical changes that positively affect museums’ long-term relationships with marginalised communities are critical. The book also considers the future of the museum by drawing on queer theories of utopia, futurity, failure and amateurism to complicate understandings of the queer museum and its relationship to people and objects. The Queer Museum will be of interest to students and academics in museum and heritage studies, art history and archival studies. It will also be essential reading for museum and arts sector practitioners who seek to do and engage with this kind of work.

To what extent have developments in global politics, artworld institutions, and local cultures reshaped the critical directions of feminist art historians? The significant new research gathered here engages with the rich inheritance of feminist historiography since around 1970, and considers how to maintain the forcefulness of its critique while addressing contemporary political struggles. Taking on subjects that reflect the museological, global and materialist trajectories of twenty-first-century art historical scholarship, the chapters address the themes of Invisibility, Temporality, Spatiality and Storytelling. They present new research on a diversity of topics that span political movements in Italy, urban gentrification in New York, community art projects in Scotland and Canada's contemporary indigenous culture. Individual chapter analyses focus on the art of Lee Krasner, The Emily Davison Lodge, Zoe Leonard, Martha Rosler, Carla Lonzi and Womanhouse. Together with a synthesising introductory essay, these studies provide readers with a view of feminist art histories of the past, present and future.

An invaluable handbook, How to Write Art History enables students to get the most from their art history course. In a clear and engaging style, Anne D'Alleva empowers readers to approach their coursework with confidence and energy. The book introduces two basic art historical methods - formal analysis and contextual analysis - revealing how to use these methods in writing papers and in class discussion. The common strengths and weaknesses of an art history essay are highlighted by using real examples of written work, and at each stage of the writing process D'Alleva offers valuable advice on developing an argument convincingly. In addition, she explains the most effective methods of note-taking and outlines strategies for reviewing images - essential tools when preparing for an exam. Providing a fascinating view of the study of art history within its historical context, this book will be particularly helpful for those considering a career in this rewarding discipline.

The first volume to provide an interdisciplinary, comprehensive history of twentieth and twenty-first century Gothic culture.

A Companion to Contemporary Art is a major survey covering the major works and movements, the most important theoretical developments, and the historical, social, political, and aesthetic issues in contemporary art since 1945, primarily in the Euro-American context. Collects 27 original essays by expert scholars describing the current state of scholarship in art history and visual studies, and pointing to future directions in the field. Contains dual chronological and thematic coverage of the major themes in the art of our time: politics, culture wars, public space, diaspora, the artist, identity politics, the body, and visual culture. Offers synthetic analysis, as well as new approaches to, debates central to the visual arts since 1945 such as those addressing formalism, the avant-garde, the role of the artist, technology and art, and the society of the spectacle.