Overview

"Today's artists and art lovers who adhere to a traditional view of art are virtually submerged in the tsunami of anti-traditional work and supporting critical spin generated by the contemporary artworld. Bucking the Artworld Tide---comprising more than three decades of the author's contrarian writing and speaking---is written from their perspective. It offers a solid defense of traditional visual art, as well as trenchant critiques of countless ""new art forms"" invented since the early 20th century and of the flawed theoretical assumptions behind them. A key part of the volume constitutes a critique of K-12 art education, which has all too readily adopted the contemporary artworld's anti-traditional mindset."

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9780990605737

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Reviews

Solidly argued and thoughtfully presented. . . . eloquent prose and well-developed point of view . . . a thought-provoking and often enjoyable read. . . . Kamhi's passion for her subject is undeniable and makes even the more technical aspects of the work accessible. An illuminating, strongly opinionated, and enthusiastically acerbic critique of today's art world. -- Kirkus Reviews Shakes the foundation of today's art establishment, challenging its basic tenets. . . . Buttressed by ample scholarship, extensively footnoted, Bucking the Artworld Tide constitutes a worthy successor to Kamhi's prior book. . . . Merits a place in any collection of books of interest to visual artists, art lovers, and art educators. -- Midwest Book Review [T]his pull-no-punches essay collection deriding abstract art and its postmodernist successors . . . makes a passionate and effective argument that such work is 'incomprehensible to the poor viewer.'. . . [R]eaders who find abstract and conceptual art baffling will be thrilled . . . to have their opinions confirmed by this clearly argued critique . . . well researched and thoughtfully written. -- BookLife

"""Solidly argued and thoughtfully presented. . . . eloquent prose and well-developed point of view . . . a thought-provoking and often enjoyable read. . . . Kamhi's passion for her subject is undeniable and makes even the more technical aspects of the work accessible. An illuminating, strongly opinionated, and enthusiastically acerbic critique of today's art world."" - Kirkus Reviews ""Shakes the foundation of today's art establishment, challenging its basic tenets. . . . Buttressed by ample scholarship, extensively footnoted, Bucking the Artworld Tide constitutes a worthy successor to Kamhi's prior book. . . . Merits a place in any collection of books of interest to visual artists, art lovers, and art educators."" - Midwest Book Review ""[T]his pull-no-punches essay collection deriding abstract art and its postmodernist successors . . . makes a passionate and effective argument that such work is 'incomprehensible to the poor viewer.'. . . [R]eaders who find abstract and conceptual art baffling will be thrilled . . . to have their opinions confirmed by this clearly argued critique . . . well researched and thoughtfully written."" - BookLife ""Part of the joy of reading Kamhi's work is that she preempts and answers [the] niggling questions we have. . . . [She] answers such questions with eloquent discourse, communicating her arguments so clearly (and with humor) that it is easy to forget she's often tackling complex ideas."" ---Epoch Times"

Author Information

"Michelle Marder Kamhi is an independent scholar and critic and co-editor of Aristos (an online review of the arts). She is the author of Who Says That's Art? A Commonsense View of the Visual Arts-lauded by Kirkus Reviews as ""forceful and persuasive.""Kamhi previously co-authored What Art Is: The Esthetic Theory of Ayn Rand (Open Court, 2000), which dealt with all the major arts and was praised by the American Library Association's Choice magazine for its ""well-documented . . . debunking of twentieth-century art . . . and art theory.""After graduating from Barnard College, Kamhi earned an M.A. in Art History at Hunter College of the City University of New York. Before joining Aristos in 1984, she had been an editor at Columbia University Press--where she worked on titles in its distinguished Records of Civilization series--and was active as a freelance writer and editor.Kamhi is a member of the American Society for Aesthetics, the National Art Education Association, the National Association of Scholars, and AICA-USA (the International Association of Art Critics - United States). Articles by her have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Art Education, Arts Education Policy Review, and Epoch Times, among other publications."

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