Maja and Reuben Fowkes introduce outstanding artworks and major figures from central and eastern Europe and reveal the movements, theories and styles that have shaped artistic practice since 1950 – the rich and varied art scenes of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Yugoslavia, extending their gaze at intervals to East Germany, Romania, the Baltic states and the rest of the Balkans. While politics in the region have been marked by unstable geography and dramatic transitions, artists have experimented and innovated. This illustrated overview explores the richness of their contribution to recent art history. The authors examine the repercussions of political events on artistic life – the uprisings in Hungary and Czechoslovakia, the Solidarity movement in Poland, and the collapse of the communist bloc. But their primary interest is in the experimental art of the neo-avant-garde that resisted official agendas and engaged with global currents such as performance art, video, multimedia and net art.
About the Authors
Maja and Reuben Fowkes are curators and art historians with a focus on the theory and aesthetics of Eastern European art from the socialist era to the present. They are co-directors of the Translocal Institute for Contemporary Art, a research centre in Budapest that operates at the intersection between ecological thought and contemporary art.
About the Publisher
Thames & Hudson, established by Walter Neurath, is the world’s great publisher of illustrated books on art, architecture, design, photography, fashion, lifestyle, music and history.
