Abstract

Louis Torres (co-author of What Art Is) questions the privileged position, amounting to an institutional monopoly, of modernist avant-gardism in the visual arts. After the Avant-Gardes is a rallying call for all those who have been disquieted or disgusted by the excesses of artistic modernism. This is a collection of ten provocative essays on the arts, by writers of varied orientations who share a skepticism about the exaggerated role of modernism and the successive avant-gardes in shaping what is accepted as valid contemporary art. The essays cover painting and other visual arts, literature, music, and general observations about all the arts. It is not an exercise in hand-wringing about the current state of the arts, but looks for different directions in which the arts may now fruitfully evolve. Despite the diverse philosophies of the distinguished writers, these essays together constitute a formidable case against the unhealthy impact of avant-gardism on our lives and aesthetic culture.