Radical Decadence: Excess in Contemporary Feminist Textiles and Craft

Author:   Julia Skelly (McGill University, Canada)
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
ISBN:  

9781472569417


Pages:   144
Publication Date:   04 May 2017
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Our Price $180.00 Quantity:  
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Radical Decadence: Excess in Contemporary Feminist Textiles and Craft


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Overview

This pioneering book explores the notion of 'radical decadence' as concept, aesthetic and lived experience, and as an analytical framework for the study of contemporary feminist textile art. Gendered discourses of decadence that perpetuate anxieties about women's power, consumption and pleasure are deconstructed through images of drug use, female sexuality and 'excessive' living, in artworks by several contemporary textile artists including Orly Cogan, Tracey Emin, Allyson Mitchell, and Rozanne Hawksley. Perceptions of decadence are invariably bound to the negative connotations of decay and degradation, particularly with regard to the transgression of social norms related to femininity and the female body. Excessive consumption by women has historically been represented as grotesque, and until now, women's pleasure in relation to drug and alcohol use has largely gone unexamined in feminist art history and craft studies. Here, representations of female consumption, from cupcakes to alcohol and cocaine, are opened up for critical discussion. Drawing on feminist and queer theories, Julia Skelly considers portrayals of 'bad girls' in artworks that explore female sexuality - performative pieces designed to subvert and exceed feminine roles. In this provocative book, decadence is understood not as a destructive force but as a liberating aesthetic.

Full Product Details

Author:   Julia Skelly (McGill University, Canada)
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint:   Bloomsbury Academic
Dimensions:   Width: 16.90cm , Height: 1.30cm , Length: 24.40cm
Weight:   0.476kg
ISBN:  

9781472569417


ISBN 10:   1472569415
Pages:   144
Publication Date:   04 May 2017
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Decadence, Feminism and Excess Chapter 1: Consuming Craft, Cupcakes and Cocaine: Orly Cogan, Shane Waltener and Shelley Miller Chapter 2: Pleasure Craft: Nava Lubelski, Mickalene Thomas and Shary Boyle Chapter 3: Bad Women?: Tracey Emin, Ghada Amer and Allyson Mitchell Chapter 4: The Decaying Fabrics of Life and Death : Rozanne Hawksley's Textile Art Bibliography Index

Reviews

Radical Decadence addresses decadence and excess, re-framing these as contemporary strategies of transgression and pleasure. In this well-illustrated book, Skelly draws on established and newly emerging artists working with cloth, porcelain and paint, demonstrating the inherent and delightful messiness of these media and their resistance to controlling systems. -- Catherine Dormor, Middlesex University.


Author Information

Julia Skelly teaches in the Department of Art History and Communication Studies at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

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