With Pleasure
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Pattern and Decoration in American Art 1972–1985
Edited by Anna Katz; With essays by Elissa Auther, Anna Katz, Alex Kitnick, Rebecca Skafsgaard Lowery, Kayleigh Perkov, Sarah-Neel Smith, and Hamza Walker
A timely and expansive survey of a groundbreaking American art movement that overturned aesthetic hierarchies in a riot of color and ornamentation
The Pattern and Decoration movement emerged in the 1970s as an embrace of long-dismissed art forms associated with the decorative. Pioneering artists such as Miriam Schapiro (1923–2015), Joyce Kozloff (b. 1942), Robert Kushner (b. 1949), and others appropriated patterns, frequently from non-Western decorative arts, to produce intricate, often dizzying or gaudy designs in media ranging from painting, sculpture, and collage to ceramics, installation art, and performance. This dazzling book showcases an astonishing array of works by more than 40 artists from across the United States, examining the movement’s defiant adoption of art forms traditionally viewed as feminine, craft-based, or otherwise inferior to fine art.
In addition to offering an overview of the Pattern and Decoration movement as it is commonly recognized, this volume considers artists of the period who are not typically associated with the movement. Rethinking the significance of patterns and the decorative in postwar American art, this panoramic view provides new insights into abstraction, feminism, and installation art. Essays explore the movement’s feminist methods and values, including Miriam Schapiro’s “femmage” practice; its impact on contemporary abstract painting; and its relationship to postmodern architecture and design. Artist biographies, an exhibition history, and reprints of historically significant writings further establish With Pleasure as the most expansive publication on the subject.
The Pattern and Decoration movement emerged in the 1970s as an embrace of long-dismissed art forms associated with the decorative. Pioneering artists such as Miriam Schapiro (1923–2015), Joyce Kozloff (b. 1942), Robert Kushner (b. 1949), and others appropriated patterns, frequently from non-Western decorative arts, to produce intricate, often dizzying or gaudy designs in media ranging from painting, sculpture, and collage to ceramics, installation art, and performance. This dazzling book showcases an astonishing array of works by more than 40 artists from across the United States, examining the movement’s defiant adoption of art forms traditionally viewed as feminine, craft-based, or otherwise inferior to fine art.
In addition to offering an overview of the Pattern and Decoration movement as it is commonly recognized, this volume considers artists of the period who are not typically associated with the movement. Rethinking the significance of patterns and the decorative in postwar American art, this panoramic view provides new insights into abstraction, feminism, and installation art. Essays explore the movement’s feminist methods and values, including Miriam Schapiro’s “femmage” practice; its impact on contemporary abstract painting; and its relationship to postmodern architecture and design. Artist biographies, an exhibition history, and reprints of historically significant writings further establish With Pleasure as the most expansive publication on the subject.
Published in association with The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Exhibition Schedule:
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
(October 27, 2019–May 11, 2020)
Hessel Museum of Art, Bard College
(June 26–November 28, 2021)
Anna Katz is associate curator at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.
EXHIBITION SCHEDULE
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
(October 27, 2019–May 11, 2020)
Hessel Museum of Art, Bard College
(June 26–November 28, 2021)
"[I]mpressively produced and comprehensively conceptualized . . . [an] intelligent and attractive book."—Ellen G. Landau, Women's Art Journal
“Valuable primary and secondary source data, along with 175 artwork images, has been combined to create an impressively produced and comprehensively conceptualized catalogue.”—Ellen G. Landau, Woman’s Art Journal
“[O]utstanding, an indispensable contribution to our understanding of art and its possibilities.”—Carter Ratcliff, Hyperallergic
ISBN: 9780300239942
Publication Date: December 10, 2019
Publishing Partner: Published in association with The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Publication Date: December 10, 2019
Publishing Partner: Published in association with The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
328 pages, 8 3/4 x 11
300 color illus.
300 color illus.
ADDITIONAL MATERIALS