{"product_id":"theory-of-the-rearguard-how-to-survive-contemporary-art-and-almost-everything-else-9781644214619","title":"Theory of the Rearguard: How to Survive Contemporary Art (and Almost Everything Else)","description":"\u003cb\u003eCuban art critic and curator Iv?n de la Nuez returns with an ironic epitaph for contemporary art. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eArt criticism that examines contemporary art in the 21st century in relationship to politics, iconography, and literature. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Iv?n de la Nuez transforms art criticism into an art form.\" --\u003ci\u003eLetras Libres\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eTheory of the Rearguard \u003c\/i\u003eexamines how contemporary art is in tension with survival, rather than in relation to life. In the twentieth century, Peter B?rger's \u003ci\u003eTheory of the Avant-Garde \u003c\/i\u003ewas a cult book focused on the two main tasks that art demanded at the time: to break its representation and to destroy the barrier that separated it from life. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eForty years later, \u003ci\u003eThe Theory of the \u003ci\u003eRearguard\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e is an ironic manifesto about contemporary art and its failures, even though Iv?n de la Nuez does not waste his time mourning it or disguising it. He argues that our times are not characterized by the distance between art and life, but by a tension between art and survival, which is the continuation of life by any means necessary. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn the twenty-first century, Iv?n de la Nuez examines art in relationship to politics, iconography, and literature. This austere and sharp book--in which Duchamp stumbles upon Lupe, the revolution upon the museum, Paul Virilio upon Joan Fontcuberta or Fukuyama upon Michael Jackson--wonders if contemporary art will ever end. Because if it were mortal--\"just as mortal as everything it invokes or examines under its magnifying glass\"--de la Nuez argues would be worth writing an epitaph for it as he has done in this sparkling book of art criticism.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eIV?N DE LA NUEZ \u003c\/b\u003eis a Cuban essayist, critic, and art curator. His books include\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003ePosmo\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e(Consonni, 2023); \u003ci\u003eCubanthropy\u003c\/i\u003e (Seven Stories, 2023), which was his English-language debut; and \u003ci\u003eIconofagias. Un diccionario del siglo XXI \u003c\/i\u003e(Debate, 2024). De la Nuez has curated many exhibitions in Barcelona and has served as the head of the Cultural Activities Department of the Centre de Cultura Contempor?nia de Barcelona and as the director of exhibitions at La Virreina Centre de la Imatge. For his excellence in contemporary art curation and commentary, he has been awarded the Espais d'Art Prize (2006), the Premis Ciutat de Barcelona Honorable Mention (2007), and a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship in the Humanities (1995). \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eELLEN JONES \u003c\/b\u003eis a literary translator from Spanish into English, a writer, and an editor. Her recent translations include \u003ci\u003eThis Mouth is Mine\u003c\/i\u003e by Y?snaya Elena A. Gil (Charco Press, 2024), \u003ci\u003eThe Remains \u003c\/i\u003eby Margo Glantz (Charco Press, 2023), \u003ci\u003eThe Forgery \u003c\/i\u003eby Ave Barrera (Charco Press, 2022, co-translated with Robin Myers), and \u003ci\u003eNancy \u003c\/i\u003eby Bruno Lloret (Two Lines Press, 2021). Her monograph, \u003ci\u003eLiterature in Motion: Translating Multilingualism Across the Americas\u003c\/i\u003e, is published by Columbia University Press (2022).\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Seven Stories Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51243734171922,"sku":"9781644214619","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_a0d1093e-5b25-4d87-9438-182605c649ef.jpg?v=1745869644","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/theory-of-the-rearguard-how-to-survive-contemporary-art-and-almost-everything-else-9781644214619","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}