Transmodern - (Rethinking Art's Histories) by Christian Kravagna (Paperback)

About the Book

Transmodern examines the global dimension of modern art by tracing the crossroads of modernisms in Asia, Europe and the Americas. It explores path-breaking transcultural art practices from the 1920s to the 1960s in the framework of decolonial movements and transcultural thinking.

Book Synopsis

How can we reconfigure our picture of modern art after the postcolonial turn without simply adding regional art histories to the Eurocentric canon? Transmodern examines the global dimension of modern art by tracing the crossroads of different modernisms in Asia, Europe and the Americas. Featuring case studies in Indian modernism, the Harlem Renaissance and post-war abstraction, it demonstrates the significance of transcultural contacts between artists from both sides of the colonial divide. The book argues for the need to study non-western avant-gardes and Black avant-gardes within the west as transmodern counter-currents to mainstream modernism. It situates transcultural art practices from the 1920s to the 1960s within the framework of anti-colonial movements and in relation to contemporary transcultural thinking that challenged colonial concepts of race and culture with notions of syncretism and hybridity.

From the Back Cover

This book intervenes in current debates on global art history and modernism. Taking a postcolonial perspective, it responds to the challenges of developing a post-Eurocentric art history by providing a study of the transcultural in artistic practice, theory, and anti-colonial liberation movements from the 1920s to the 1960s.

During the first half of the twentieth century, a transcultural modernism emerged in many places around the globe. At the same time, Western concepts of race and culture began to be subjected to theoretical critique. Transmodern adopts the motif of contact developed by anthropologists and sociologists, extending it to cover exchanges and collaborations between artists across colonial boundaries. Through case studies from Indian modernism, the Harlem Renaissance, and post-war abstraction, the book presents methodological considerations for a postcolonial history of modern art. In doing so, it interprets the diversity of global modernisms not merely as regional effects of cultural globalisation, but as intentional and political responses to the coloniality of Western modernity.

Theoretically acute and richly illustrated, Transmodern will be essential reading for students and scholars of art history, transcultural studies, and postcolonial studies.

Review Quotes

This book makes an important contribution to the ongoing debate on global modernism. Enriched by wide research spanning a wide geographical area, this subtle, scholarly work, well-grounded in deep research, will become an essential textbook at educational institutions as well as provide a benchmark in future discussions on questions of global art.
Partha Mitter

About the Author

Christian Kravagna is Professor of Postcolonial Studies at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna