Right About Now

What do you think of when you consider the art of the past fifteen years? Video art. Computers and the internet. Globalization. Nomadism. Itinerant curators and biennale artists. Installation and process art. Powerpoint presentations. The multicultural society. Design. Magazines. Fashion. Lounges. The DJ, VJ and house culture. Blockbuster exhibitions in art galleries. Social works of art and socially engaged artists.

This great diversity of art has, however, generated virtually no theoretical reflection or historical contextualization. The contrast with previous decades could scarcely be starker. In the 1960s artists and critics fell over each other to come up with names, complete with theory and genealogy, for each new trend. Pop Art, Op Art, Minimal Art, Conceptual Art – they all had to have their own story.

In the 1990s it was mainly the art itself and the experience it provided that were key. And yet this ‘art without theory’ can, of course, be interpreted theoretically and put into a historical context.

In Right about Now, Art and Theory since the 1990s an international group of renowned authors and newcomers in the field has accepted the challenge and endeavoured to bring together the art and theory of the recent past. Their thought-provoking contributions revolve around six topical themes.

The Body
Interactivity
Engagement
Documentary Strategies
Money
Curating