Overview

For well over a hundred years certain artists have blurred the distinction between 'art' and 'design', creating works for which Alex Coles has coined the term 'DesignArt'. In a pioneering study of this dynamic area of art-making, he traces its course from the early twentieth century to the present day, when such works have become a dominant feature of the contemporary art scene and are pervasive in key international exhibitions and biennials. From Matisse's plush interior for Rockefeller's town house to the playful contemporary environments created by Jorge Pardo; from the paintings of Bridget Riley appropriated by the fashion world in the 1960s to the fabric designs Takashi Murakami recently conceived with Marc Jacobs, Alex Coles has identified a major and previously uncharted strand in art history. DesignArt is the first critical account of its diverse histories, polemics and practices. Written in a clear and accessible style and fully illustrated throughout in colour, DesignArt is indispensable for all those with an interest in modern art and design and the relationship between the two.

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9781854375209

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Reviews

'Interesting and ambitious... identifies a serious and significant development within contemporary art. I could imagine it as recommended reading for undergraduate and postgraduate courses' - David Batchelor, Royal College of Art, London 'Significant and timely. I see the book as recommended reading for courses in contemporary art... Certainly of international interest. Excellent.' - Barry Schwabsky, European Reviews Editor, ArtForum

Author Information

Alex Coles is an art critic and lecturer. His criticism appears regularly in Art Monthly, Frieze, and Parachute, and his edited books include Site-Specificity: The Ethnographic Turn and Mark Dion: Archaeology.

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