Many postwar American artists were influenced by
French philosophy, literary studies, and social sciences. A number of French
authors grouped under the label "French Theory" – which refers roughly
to structuralism and post-structuralism – were given considerable and sustained
attention in the United States. As far back as the early 1960s, this reception
process had a crucial influence on both American artistic practice and the spread
of French thought. At the turn of the twenty-first century, a number of studies
explored the influence of this French theory in the humanities. And yet its
impact on the visual arts in America has rarely been explored. French Theory and American Art examines
some of the main historical conditions of this reception. It considers
significant texts, artists, authors, and events that were instrumental in the
introduction of French thought into the art world in the United States. The
relationship between artistic creation and theory, between unique and inventive
uses and creative misunderstandings of theory, constitutes the other main topic
of the present volume.
Editors: Anaël Lejeune, Olivier Mignon and
Raphaël Pirenne
Essays by Philip Armstrong, Victor Burgin,
François Cusset, Larisa Dryansky, Benjamin Greenman, Rachel Haidu, Sylvère
Lotringer, Stephen Melville, Laura Mulvey, Kassandra Nakas, Peter Osborne,
Jean-Michel Rabaté, John Rajchman, Katia Schneller, Alexander Streitberger,
Hilde Van Gelder and Erik Verhagen
A joint publication of (SIC) and Sternberg Press
Published in 2013
In English
15.5 x 23 cm
384 pages
ISBN: 978-2-930667-04-1
EAN: 9782930667041
