All of a Sudden. Things that Matter in Contemporary Art

Contemporary art is booming: there are more artists, more collectors, more venues, more fairs, more museums and definitely more hype then ever before. What s missing are criteria that define quality. That's what Jorg Heiser explores in this wonderful critical book, in which he uses a sharp summary of contemporary art since Marcel Duchamp to make his points. When it's good, Heiser claims, art hits where it hurts, striking at the heart of an ossified status quo . .. Instead of just aiming to shock and outrage, it shows authority losing its grip. Instead of inflating itself, it deflates the pompous in the name of art. Praised by critics as astonishingly enlightening.