J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Andy Grundberg
Episode #35, Summary
Andy Grundberg writes an informed manifesto on the symbiotic relationship of photography and contemporary art.
Episode Notes
Grundberg presents a personal reflection of his on-the-ground immersion in the world of contemporary art during the conceptual hayday of the NYC downtown scene in the 70’s and 80’s. In this scholarly tour-de-force he chronicles over 100 artists as photography became a means to deconstruct and make contemporary art approachable.
In this book group, Andy Grundberg discusses, among other things:
The popularity of contemporary art being a consequence of photography
Women photographers use of photo and performance to challenge the male gaze
The attraction of photography’s ability to reveal structure
Arts’ ability to reveal it’s own contradictions
Shaping culture with Cindy Shermans’ new variant of self portraiture
Susan Sontag's prescient call to consciousness - ‘images consume reality’
The Starn twins barrier-breaking sculptural use of photography
Sophie Calle being an avatar of surveillance in photography
The import of magazine photography - it is where art photo happened
The contextualists (aka digital natives) leading photo forward
Referenced in the episode
The Piedmont Manifest - Andy Grundberg
10 Female Land Artists You Should Know - Sarah Gottesman
Painting, Photography and Film - Moholy-Nagy
A.D. Colemen Light Readings : A Photography Critics Writing; 1968-1978/ 1979
Death in Photograph - Andy Grundberg
The Photography Reader - Liz Wells