Theory of the Rearguard
How to Survive Contemporary Art (and Almost Everything Else)
$33.90
- Paperback
96 pages
- Release Date
3 June 2025
Summary
Cuban art critic and curator Ivan de la Nuez returns with an ironic epitaph for contemporary art.
Art criticism that examines contemporary art in the 21st century in relationship to politics, iconography, and literature.
“Ivan de la Nuez transforms art criticism into an art form.” - Letras Libres
Theory of the Rearguard examines how contemporary art is in tension with survival, rather than in relation to life. In the twentieth century, Peter B rger’s …
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781644214619 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 164421461X |
| Author: | Ellen Jones, Ivan de la Nuez |
| Publisher: | Seven Stories Press,U.S. |
| Imprint: | Seven Stories Press,U.S. |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 96 |
| Release Date: | 3 June 2025 |
| Weight: | 369g |
| Dimensions: | 210mm x 142mm |
What They're Saying
Critics Review
“Iván de la Nuez is the first writer who has the audacity to affirm that events, having first occurred as tragedy and then as farce, now occur as aesthetics.” —Franco “Bifo” Berardi, author of The Soul at Work
“The title of Theory of the Rearguard, a parody of Peter Bürger’s Theory of the Avant-Garde, invites us onto the apparently shaky but in fact stable terrain of art conceived in relation to contemporary politics and society. One of the objectives of this elegantly humorous and astonishingly erudite book is to take art out of the museum, on a tour around the nearly dystopian world we inhabit, and return it soiled by the dirt roads it traversed. A pleasant read full of beautiful passages.” —Marcial Gala, author of Call Me Cassandra
About The Author
Ellen Jones
IV N DE LA NUEZ is a Cuban essayist, critic, and art curator. His books include Posmo (Consonni, 2023); Cubanthropy (Seven Stories, 2023), which was his English-language debut; and Iconofagias. Un diccionario del siglo XXI (Debate, 2024). De la Nuez has curated many exhibitions in Barcelona and has served as the head of the Cultural Activities Department of the Centre de Cultura Contempor nia de Barcelona and as the director of exhibitions at La Virreina Centre de la Imatge. For his excellence in contemporary art curation and commentary, he has been awarded the Espais d’Art Prize (2006), the Premis Ciutat de Barcelona Honorable Mention (2007), and a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship in the Humanities (1995).
ELLEN JONES is a literary translator from Spanish into English, a writer, and an editor. Her recent translations include This Mouth is Mine by Yasnaya Elena A. Gil (Charco Press, 2024), The Remains by Margo Glantz (Charco Press, 2023), The Forgery by Ave Barrera (Charco Press, 2022, co-translated with Robin Myers), and Nancy by Bruno Lloret (Two Lines Press, 2021). Her monograph, Literature in Motion- Translating Multilingualism Across the Americas, is published by Columbia University Press (2022).
Returns
This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.