Has New York really been the centre of artistic innovation since 1945, as is constantly repeated? Global hegemony is studied on a global scale; however, this comparative approach undermines the myth of New York art and highlights the emergence of an internationalised but elitist production system of works and careers from the 1950s onwards. Founded on the rapid renewal of artistic stables and the systematic search for originality, it was this speculative system that maintained competition between countries, museums, dealers, artists and collectors. From a social and economic perspective, as well as an aesthetic and geopolitical one, the author explores the universe of the artistic avant-garde from 1945 to 1970.
This global history of art covers both works and individuals. It questions surprising turning points, such as the materialist choice of certain artists in the 1950s, the sadomasochistic violence of some groups after 1961, and the sudden politicisation of artists around 1965 (when Mao, Cuba, Vietnam and decolonisation had, until then, been of little interest).
From Brazilian concretism to Italian and Yugoslav kinetic art, from Japanese Neo-Dada Organisers to Viennese actionists, and to the heterogeneous globalisations of happening and pop art, this book enhances our understanding of what museums set up as canon, while at the same time revealing little-known stories from the world of contemporary art.
