{"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\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Iv?n de la Nuez\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Seven Stories Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/29\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 96\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.2lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.10h x 5.40w x 0.50d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781644214619","brand":"Seven Stories Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43914069672073,"sku":"9781644214619","price":14.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0636\/9240\/6921\/files\/img_7065c64f-85c0-47ae-9636-9d4153ee4abf.jpg?v=1745299104","url":"https:\/\/sonsanddaughtersbooks.com\/products\/theory-of-the-rearguard-how-to-survive-contemporary-art-and-almost-everything-else-9781644214619","provider":"Sons and Daughters Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}