Postmodern Animal

This book is not for the animal enthusiast who is looking for cute stories about critters and a little background on the blue dog painter. This is a book about animals as they appear in the postmodern era. Really, if the reader is not interested in contemporary art, this may be a dull read because it expects a minimal level of art background. However, if you are interested in art now and animals in contemporary culture, especially if you are an artist working with animals, this is a great read! Artists discussed that may be familiar include: Joseph Bueys Damien Hirst Paula Rego Cindy Sherman Paul McCarthy Jeff Koons Bruce Nauman Hubert Duprat Louise Bourgeois William Wegman It was amazing to see a compilation of animal works through these artists, although it gave relatively few avenues to expand my own work. It was exceptionally gratifying to hear that I wasn't the only one hitting this animal criticism (Using animals in postmodern art is harder than declaring yourself a landscape artist). There is even a great chapter in the end about fear of the familiar, in using animals like pets, due to anthropomorphophobia and the fear of being uncritically sentimental. Ultimately, it was very insightful and a fairly easy read. Don't expect to gain all the answers of postmodernism by reading this though - postmodernism is more or less built on questions, not answers. It's more of a window and a catagorizing based on various theories and criticisms. Enjoy!!