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The Cute

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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Cute examines the profound influence of the 'cute' aesthetic on post-war and contemporary art, exploring how themes of minorness, diminutiveness, and unthreatening qualities have shaped a wide range of cultural practices. This anthology highlights how artists from diverse backgrounds engage with and transform the concept of cuteness, challenging and redefining its significance within modern artistic expression.
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book is ideal for readers interested in contemporary art, cultural studies, and aesthetics, particularly those curious about the evolving role of 'cuteness' in artistic and cultural discourse.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

The Cute tracks the astonishing impact of a single aesthetic category on post-war and contemporary art, and on the vast range of cultural practices and discourses on which artists draw. From robots and cat videos to ice cream socials, The Cute explores the ramifications of an aesthetic 'of' or 'about' minorness—or what is perceived to be diminutive, subordinate, and above all, unthreatening—on the shifting forms and contents of art today.

This anthology is the first of its kind to show how contemporary artists have worked on and transformed the cute, and in ways that not only complexify its meaning, but also reshape their own artistic practices.

Artists surveyed include: Peggy Ahwesh, Cosima Von Bonin, Nayland Blake, Paul Chan, Henry Darger, Adrian Howells, Juliana Huxtable, Larry Johnson, Mike Kelley, Dean Kenning, Wyndham Lewis, Jeff Koons, Sean-Kierre Lyons, Mammalian Diving Reflex, Tala Madani, Annette Messager, Mariko Mori, Charlemagne Palestine, Mika Rottenberg, Allen Ruppersberg, Jack Smith, Carolee Schneeman, Kara Walker, Andy Warhol, and Yoshitomo Nara.

Writers include Sasha Archibald, Roland Barthes, Leigh Claire La Berge, Ian Bogost, Lauren Berlant, Jennifer Doyle, Lee Edelman, Stephen Jay Gould, Angelik Vizcarrondo-Laboy, Bridget Minamore, Juliane Rebentisch, Frances Richard, John Roberts, Friedrich Schiller, Peter Schjeldahl, and Kanako Shiokawa.

Series: Documents of Contemporary Art

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  • The Cute
    The Cute tracks the astonishing impact of a single aesthetic category on post-war and contemporary art, and on the vast range of cultural practices and discourses on which artists draw. From robots and cat videos to ice cream socials, The Cute explores the ramifications of an aesthetic 'of' or 'about' minorness—or what is perceived to be diminutive, subordinate, and above...
    Paperback
    $3999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780854882984

Publisher: Whitechapel Gallery

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 31 March 2022

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Whitechapel Gallery

Contributors:

  • Edited by Sianne Ngai

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 145.0mm

Height: 210.0mm

Weight: 560g

Pages: 240

About the Author

Sianne Ngai is the author of Ugly Feelings (Harvard, 2005), Our Aesthetic Categories: Zany, Cute, Interesting (Harvard, 2012), and Theory of the Gimmick: Aesthetic Judgment and Capitalist Form (Belknap/Harvard, 2020). She is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of English at the University of Chicago.

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