The Art of Brutalism: Rescuing Hope from Catastrophe in 1950s Britain - Hardcover

Highmore, Ben

9780300222746: The Art of Brutalism: Rescuing Hope from Catastrophe in 1950s Britain

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300222742 ISBN 13: 9780300222746

Publisher: Paul Mellon Centre, 2017

While most famously associated with numerous mid-century architects, Brutalism was a style of visual art that was also adopted by painters, sculptors, printmakers, and photographers. Taking into account Brutalist work by eminent artists such as Richard Hamilton and Eduardo Paolozzi, as well as lesser-known practitioners like Nigel Henderson and Magda Cordell , this volume focuses on a ten-year period between 1952 and 1962 when artists refused a programmatic set of aesthetics and began experimenting with images that had no set focal point, using non-traditional materials like bombsite debris in their work, and producing objects that were characterized by wit and energy along with anxiety, trauma, and melancholia. This original study offers insights into how Brutalism enabled British artists of the mid-20th century to respond ethically and aesthetically to the challenges posed by the rise of consumer culture and unbridled technological progress.

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Book Description:

An engaging and expansive look at the Brutalist art produced in Britain between 1952 and 1962 that includes artists working across a large array of media.

About the Author:

Ben Highmore is professor of cultural studies and a Leverhulme Major Research Fellow at the University of Sussex.

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