The Revolutionary Century; Art in Asia 1900-2000
Alison Carroll
“rich, complex and exciting survey” Asian Art News 2012
The Revolutionary Century; Art in Asia 1900-2000 is an accessible, informative account of Asian art from Japan to Pakistan from 1900 to 2000. It is the first book written to tell the story of the turbulent, dynamic period that connects traditional (until the end of the 19th century) and contemporary art.
Structured as periods of time across the region in three main sections – up to the Second World War, during the war decades, and from 1960 until the end of the century – the book compares the art produced within each region, as it responds to and leads the debates of the day. Art is put into its timely political and social context; issues of colonialism, influences to and from the West, gender and nationalism are addressed. The book can be used as a visual document of a century of great change, as well as a reflection of creativity of the thousands of artists working in the region through this time.
It tells its own story and helps shed light on other narratives.
Many images have not been seen before outside their countries of origin, and most never in a wider regional context.
Within each time-based chapter are focuses on North Asia (Japan, China, Taiwan and Korea) with its underlying response to Confucianism, Southeast Asia with the current ASEAN nations: the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indochina and Burma, and a focus on the effect of the Second World War and the rise of nationalist movements, and South Asia (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh) and a focus on the impact of modernism. Within this is discussion of the importance of Asian artists outside the region, from Jan Toorop to Paik Nam June, as well as artists from outside responding to cultural forces emanating from the region, like Mono-ha and Zen.
ISBN13: 9781921394171
RRP: $99.00 Hardback
Publication date: 2010/07 Palgrave Macmillan Australia
210 pp 180 reproductions
Selected Reviews