Julian Stallabrass
Encyclopedia
Julian Stallabrass is a British
art historian
, photographer and curator. A Marxist
, he has written extensively on contemporary art
(including internet art
), photography
and the history of twentieth century British art
.
movement, and their works and influence was the subject of his 1999 study High Art Lite, a term he coined as a disparaging synonym to the pervasive YBA acronym. To wit:
, the New Left Review
and Third Text
.
Stallabrass is a Reader at the Courtauld Institute of Art
, University of London
.
He curated the exhibition "Art and Money Online" at Tate Britain
, London
in 2001. In 2008 he selected the Brighton Photography Biennial.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
art historian
Art history
Art history has historically been understood as the academic study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts, i.e. genre, design, format, and style...
, photographer and curator. A Marxist
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
, he has written extensively on contemporary art
Contemporary art
Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...
(including internet art
Internet art
Internet art is a form of digital artwork distributed via the Internet. This form of art has circumvented the traditional dominance of the gallery and museum system, delivering aesthetic experiences via the Internet. In many cases, the viewer is drawn into some kind of interaction with the work...
), photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
and the history of twentieth century British art
British art
British art could refer to:* Art of the United Kingdom - post 1707* English art* Irish art* Scottish art* Welsh art...
.
High Art Lite
Stallabrass was highly critical of the Young British ArtistsYoung British Artists
Young British Artists or YBAs is the name given to a loose group of visual artists who first began to exhibit together in London, in 1988...
movement, and their works and influence was the subject of his 1999 study High Art Lite, a term he coined as a disparaging synonym to the pervasive YBA acronym. To wit:
"As the art market revived [in the early- to mid- 1990s] and success beckoned, the new art became more evidently two-faced, looking still to the mass media and a broad audience but also to the particular concerns of the narrow world of art-buyers and dealers. To please both was not an easy task. Could the artists face both ways at once, and take both sets of viewers seriously? That split in attention, I shall argue, led to a wide public being successfully courted but not seriously addressed. It has left a large audience for high art lite intrigued but unsatisfied, puzzled at the work's meaning and wanting explanations that are never vouchsafed: the aim of this book is to suggest the direction some of those answers might take and to do so in a style that is as accessible as the art it examines."
Other books
His other books include Gargantua: Manufactured Mass Culture (1996), Paris Pictured (2002), Internet Art: The Online Clash of Culture and Commerce (2003) and Art Incorporated (2004), which was republished in 2006 as Contemporary Art: A Very Short Introduction. Stallabrass is on the editorial boards of Art HistoryArt History (Journal)
Art History is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Association of Art Historians. The journal was established in 1978. Art History provides an international forum for research relating to all aspects of the historical and theological study of painting,...
, the New Left Review
New Left Review
New Left Review is a 160-page journal, published every two months from London, devoted to world politics, economy and culture. Often compared to the French-language Les Temps modernes, it is associated with Verso Books , and regularly features the essays of authorities on contemporary social...
and Third Text
Third Text
Third Text is a bimonthly academic journal on art in global context. After founder and editor Rasheed Araeen's earlier art magazine Black Phoenix, started in 1978, published only three issues, it was relaunched as a theoretical art journal in 1987...
.
Stallabrass is a Reader at the Courtauld Institute of Art
Courtauld Institute of Art
The Courtauld Institute of Art is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art. The Courtauld is one of the premier centres for the teaching of art history in the world; it was the only History of Art department in the UK to be awarded a top...
, University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
.
He curated the exhibition "Art and Money Online" at Tate Britain
Tate Britain
Tate Britain is an art gallery situated on Millbank in London, and part of the Tate gallery network in Britain, with Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is the oldest gallery in the network, opening in 1897. It houses a substantial collection of the works of J. M. W. Turner.-History:It...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 2001. In 2008 he selected the Brighton Photography Biennial.
External links
- Courtauld Institute of Art Dr Julian Stallabrass
- Stewart Home, Review of High Art Lite (Verso, 2nd edition 2006)
- More than 100 essays and articles by Stallabrass online.