Primitive Art in Civilized Places: Second Edition
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Book Overview
What is so "primitive" about primitive art? And how do we dare to use our standards to judge it? Drawing on an intriguing mixture of sources-including fashion ads and films, her own anthropological research, and even comic strips like Doonesbury--Price explores the cultural arrogance implicit in Westerners' appropriation of non-Western art. " Price] presents a literary collage of the Western attitude to other cultures, and in particular to the visual art of the Third and Fourth Worlds. . . . Her book is not about works of 'primitive art' as such, but about the Western construction 'Primitive Art.' It is a critique of Western ignorance and arrogance: ignorance about other cultures and arrogance towards them."--Jeremy Coote, Times Literary Supplement "The book is infuriating, entertaining, and inspirational, leaving one feeling less able than before to pass judgment on 'known' genres of art, but feeling more confident for that."--Joel Smith, San Francisco Review of Books " A] witty, but scholarly, indictment of the whole primitive-art business, from cargo to curator. And because she employs sarcasm as well as pedagogy, Price's book will probably forever deprive the reader of the warm fuzzies he usually gets standing before the display cases at the local ethnographic museum."--Newsweek
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0226680673
ISBN13:9780226680675
Release Date:January 2002
Publisher:University of Chicago Press
Length:176 Pages
Weight:0.68 lbs.
Dimensions:0.5" x 6.0" x 9.1"
Customer Reviews
1 rating
Will change the way you think about "natural history"!
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 24 years ago
Sally Price makes a great point in this small, readable book -- Westerners place so-called "primitive" art (art from non-Western countries) into a different category than "Western art." This is why one must usually visit a natural history museum to see non-Western art! The "primitive" artist is nameless and supposedly representative of his/her entire society. Could we say the same of Western artists? Price discusses these and similar intriguing questions about why Western societies view non-Western art as closer to nature than to culture.
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