Table Of Content/,
W CU!/*Lloii
$24.95
U.S.A.
MODERN
THIS ART
IS
MATTHEW COLL
N G S
Modern artisan intimidating subject. When itcomes up
in ordinaryconversation, as itdoes moreand morethese
days, the room tendstodivide intothose laying down
the lawthunderouslyand those backing offtimidly. In
fact, both ofthese responses tend to be based on fear;
when itcomesto Modern art, most people don't know
whatthey'retalking about. With this book, Matthew
Collingssays that not knowing is okay, that Modern art's
unknowability iswhat makes itworthwhile. The most
importantquestions are the onesyou've probablyasked
yourselfafterstepping intoa gallery: Whatis a genius?
Whydowewantto be shocked byart?What happened
to beautyand loveliness?
Questions like these provide the starting pointfor
each ofthe six chapters of This is ModernArt. Each one €/*
becomes a journey, a tour around the world to art
galleries and museums and artists' studios, and a trip
—
back and forth in time from the heroic early
beginnings of Modern artatthe turn ofthe centuryto
the media circus of Sensation, thefamous/infamous
exhibition recently seen by record-breaking crowds on
both sides oftheAtlantic. These rides are byturns
smooth, surprising, and alarming, but they are always
informative and entertaining.
Why arethere so many all-white, emptycanvases
throughout all periods of Modern art? When did jokes
and ironyfirsttake hold in Modern art?Will future
generations value the artoftodayas a vivid and moving
expression of how life was really lived in the 1990s? Or
will they scratch their heads and wonder howwe could
have put up with this stuff? Is there reallya champagne
called Ruinart?All ofthese questions are addressed in
thiswonderfully readable book. Like his subject,
Matthew Collings is unpredictable and unpatronizing.
—
Hecombines hard art historical information what really
—
happened with refreshingly candid personal
reflections. The result is a book that is as enjoyable to
read as it is enlightening.
THIS IS MODERN ART
or
MODERN ART
THIS
IS
MATTHEW COLLINGS
Watson-GuptillPublications/NewYork
First published inthe United States Library ofCongress Catalog Card
in 2000 byWatson-Guptill Number:99-69934
Publications,a division of ISBN 0-8230-5362-8
BPI Communications,Inc.,
1515 Broadway,
NewYork, NY 10036 Typeset by Stefania Bonelli
Set in Gill,Joanna and Garamond
©1999 Matthew Collings Printed in Italy by
The moral right ofMatthew Collings PrinterTrento S.r.l.
to be identified asthe authorof
this work has been asserted in Manufactured in Italy
accordancewith the Copyright,
Designs and PatentsAct of1988. 1 2 3 4 5 6/05 04 03 02 01 00
Design and layout© Herman Lelie
©
Artists'biographies Melissa Larner
All rights reserved.No part ofthis
publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system,or BR BR
transmitted in anyform orby N6350
any means,electronic,mechanical, •C64
2000x
photocopying,recording,or
otherwise,withoutthe prior
permission ofboth the copyright
ownerandthe above publisher
ofthis book.
Every effort has been madetotrace
all copyright holders but ifany have
been inadvertentlyoverlookedthe
publishers will be pleasedto make Frontispiece:Tracey Emm on a boat
the necessarycredits atthe first in Norwaywith Matthew Collings,
opportunity. 1998
Contents
Introduction
7
Chapter One am a Genius
I
21
Chapter Two Shock, Horror
63
ChapterThree Lovely Lovely
101
Chapter Four Nothing Matters
141
Chapter Five Hollow Laughter
183
Chapter Six The Shock of the Now
223
Picture Credits
264
Acknowledgements
268
Index
269
INTRODUCTION
8 ThisisModernArt
GaryHume1999
Start here
The sun was shiningover Hoxton Square in London's East End.The skywas blue.
The square was leafy.The buildings were picturesque.The air was buzzing with
creativityand irony.Everybodywasanartist.Iwalkedpastthe LuxCinema,the LEA
gallery, and Rongwrong,the restaurant named afterthe title ofa Dada pamphlet
from 1928, published by Marcel Duchamp, on my way to the north-east corner
where Gary Hume's studio isto lookat some ofhis paintings. I was goingto see
ifthere was one that could go on the cover ofthis book - something that said
Modern art but in a new way. But not so new that it didn't have any dignity or
looked like it had just come out ofnowhere and wasn't connected to anything,
even though that's the main principle of Modern art, it's sometimes thought. It
mustbeauto-genetic,bornoutofitsownheavingsandnotcomeoutofthefrothy
waves ofthe sea ofjoy thatthe art ofthe past swims around in, like schools of
rainbow fish.This was the rambling course ofmy thoughts as I was smiling and
saying Hello and Gary Hume was asking me how I wanted my coffee and telling
me he'd given up smoking.'What a problem it is',he was saying,'tothink up new
waystoarrangethe bodyand limbswhenyou'reoutwith a lotofpeopleandyou
suddenly realize there isn't a smoking ritual to unconsciously fall into.' 'White,
please!' was saying.
I
Magnolia
Theabstractsublime-hospital doors;hispaintingsofthe 80sjoinedthem up into
an expression ofthe age.They were big,stark,reflective surfaces ofshop-bought
