Capital Culture (A Reader on Modernist Legacies, State Institutions, and the Value(s) of Art)

The status of art has undergone a tremendous shift in the last twenty years. While the value of a work of art once came from a dynamic but fundamentally stable consensus regarding its social and aesthetic status within its culture, this has increasingly been replaced by a more controversial role for art as a high-priced commodity in international markets - we live in a world where French-owned Van Goghs are sold in London to the Japanese for tens of millions of American dollars. In Capital Culture leading cultural critics, art theorists and artists re-examine the nature of artistic value, bringing historical and critical perspectives to bear on contemporary controversies surrounding national identity, political economy, and government policy.

The twelve essays in the collection address cultural theory, aesthetics, and policy issues related to the economics of art in the context of globalization and the spreading influence of the practices and ideologies of market culture. With particular reference to Canada, they question whether these shifts and the rise of new media technologies are endangering or enriching public participation, democratic negotiation, and cultural diversity. The book includes essays by John Fekete on Innis and censorship, Thierry de Duve on global markets, Nicole Debreuil on the Voice of Fire controversy, and Mark Cheetham on Alex Colville and Andy Patton. It also includes specifically commissioned artworks by leading Canadian artists such as Vera Frenkel and Cheryl Sourkes.

Authors: Bruce Barber (Nova Scotia College of Art and Design), Jody Berland (York), Mark A. Cheetham (Western), Thierry de Duve (Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, Washington, DC), Michael Dorland (Carleton), Nicole Dubreuil (Montreal), John Fekete (Trent), Shelley Hornstein (York), Johanne Lamoureux (Montreal), Brenda Longfellow (York), Janine Marchessault (McGill), Paul Mattick, Jr (Adelphi),and Anne Whitelaw (Alberta).

Artists: Karl Beveridge, Michael Buckland, Carole Conde, Vera Frenkel, Janice Gurney, John Marriott, Luke Murphy, Yvonne Singer, Cheryl Sourkes, John Veenema, and Ron Wakkary.