Material Culture

Documenting the work of twelve contemporary sculptors from Texas, Material Culture was published to accompany the exhibition of the same name at TCU in 2008. Both representational and abstract, the works in the exhibition were made from readymade and commonplace materials with an emphasis on craft, process, and the use of the hand. Providing a survey of the ongoing embrace of object making in Texas, the essays in this book examine formal, conceptual, cultural, and social issues from American and international perspectives. The authors do not argue for a regional sensibility, given the irrelevance of regionalism in our global society, but for the strength of an art that celebrates material culture in an increasingly dematerialized world. Artists represented include Helen Altman, Richie Budd, Margarita Cabrera, Bill Davenport, Jonathan Durham, Lily Hanson, Joseph Havel, Jessica Halonen, Katrina Moorhead, Chris Sauter, Polly Lanning Sparrow, and Brad Tucker. Multiple color photographs document the works as they appeared in the exhibition. Each artist is also represented by an extensive biography and bibliography.

Curator of the exhibition and lead author is FRANCES COLPITT, the Deedie Potter Rose Chair of Art History at TCU. Her extensive record of publications includes the booksMinimal Art: The Critical Perspective and Abstract Art in the Late Twentieth Century. She is a corresponding editor forArt in America.

JENNIFER DAVY is an artist and arts writer living in Berlin, Germany. She is completing her dissertation in media studies at the European Graduate School. KIRSTIE SKINNER is an art historian based in Scotland. Her PhD dissertation, at Edinburgh College of Art, examines minimal and installation art. Both authors have published widely on contemporary art.