Dada and Surrealism: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) - Softcover

Hopkins, David

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0192802542 ISBN 13: 9780192802545

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2004

Synopsis

The avant-garde movements of Dada and Surrealism continue to have a huge influence on cultural practice, especially in contemporary art, with its obsession with sexuality, fetishism, and shock tactics. In this new treatment of the subject, Hopkins focuses on the many debates surrounding these movements: the Marquis de Sade's Surrealist deification, issues of quality (How good is Dali?), the idea of the 'readymade', attitudes towards the city, the impact of Freud, attitudes to women, fetishism, and primitivism. The international nature of these movements is examined, covering the cities of Zurich, New York, Berlin, Cologne, Barcelona, Paris, London, and recently discovered examples in Eastern Europe.

Hopkins explores the huge range of media employed by both Dada and Surrealism (collage, painting, found objects, performance art, photography, film) , whilst at the same time establishing the aesthetic differences between the movements. He also examines the Dadaist obsession with the body-as-mechanism in relation to the Surrealists' return to the fetishized/eroticized body.

About this title

About the Author:

David Hopkins is Professor in the Department of Art History at the University of Glasgow. He is the author of the bestselling After Modern Art: 1945-2000 in the Oxford History of Art series.

Review:

In a relatively small space Hopkins manages a stylish presentation and analysis of two of modernism's most famous isms. * Bear Books *

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0192802542
• ISBN 13: 9780192802545
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 183