Book Description
Believing that artistic expression can and does play an important role in changing the way we perceive our relation to the world we live in, art critic John Grande takes an in-depth look at the work of some very unusual environmental artists in the United States, Canada, and -Europe.Dealing with everything from materials to the politics of curatorship, from the permanence of art works to the artist_s role as cultural critic, Balance Art and Nature takes theory into action as it critically examines the works of Anish Kapoor, Antony Gormley, Armand Vaillancourt, Bill Reid, Carl Beam, Kevin Kelly, Ana Mendieta, James Carl, Patrick Dougherty, Keith Haring, and others. What emerges is a viable socio-environmental framework for evaluating contemporary art and insights into art_s actual and potential roles."Grande_s commentaries represent an important contribution to the theory of art."_Claude Levi-Strauss"A call to reawaken creativity in this time of alienation."_Antony Gormley"Encourages us to rethink what it means to be an artist in a time of global eco-crisis."_Suzi Gablik, The Re-enchantment of Art"Makes unexpected connections giving new insights into contemporary art."_Public Art Review"Grande_s book contains a lot of ideas, all of which are thought-provoking."_Globe and Mail"Details makes this book convincing."_Books In Canada"Grande_s ideas and style are fresh, sincere, intuitive, lively and compelling."_Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics"Offers interesting parallels between different aspects of public art."_Espace SculpturWriter and art critic John Grande_s reviews and feature -articles have been published in art magazines and catalogues internationally. He is author of Intertwining: Landscape, Technology, Issues, Artists (Black Rose Books), Nils-Udo: Art with Nature (Wienand Verlag), and Art Nature Dialogues (SUNY Press).

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Believing that artistic expression can and does play an important role in changing the way we perceive our relation to the world we live in, art critic John Grande takes an in-depth look at the work of some very unusual environmental artists in the United States, Canada, and Europe.

Dealing with everything from materials to the politics of curatorship, from the permanence of art works to the artist's role as cultural critic, Balance Art and Nature takes theory into action as it critically examines the works of Anish Kapoor, Antony Gormley, Armand Vaillancourt, Bill Reid, Carl Beam, Kevin Kelly, Ana Mendieta, James Carl, Patrick Dougherty, Keith Haring, and others. What emerges is a viable socio-environmental framework for evaluating contemporary art and insights into art's actual and potential roles.