Robert Hobbs Books

The first in-depth survey of the life and work of one of America's most celebrated contemporary artists

by Robert Hobbs,Abrams,1987, 4to New ins in Nr New DJ

By exploring the connection between Robert Motherwell's abstract expressionism and Alfred North Whitehead's process metaphysics, this book offers a fresh perspective on the influences shaping Motherwell's art. It delves into the interplay between philosophy and visual art, highlighting how metaphysical concepts inform artistic expression and creativity. Through an interdisciplinary lens, the work uncovers the deeper intellectual currents that inform Motherwell's artistic vision.

In 2002, Kara Walker was selected to represent the United States at the prestigious São Paulo Art Biennial. Curator Robert Hobbs wrote extended essays on her work for this exhibition, and also for her show later that year at the Kunstverein Hannover. Because these essays have not been distributed in the US and remain among the most in-depth and essential investigations of her work, Karma is now republishing them in this new clothbound volume.0Among the most celebrated artists of the past three decades, with over 93 solo exhibitions to her credit, including a major survey at the Whitney Museum of American Art, Walker is known for her tough, critical, provocative and highly imaginative representations of African Americans and whites reaching back to antebellum times. In his analysis, Hobbs looks at the five main sources of her art: blackface Americana, Harlequin romances, Julia Kristeva?s concept of abjection, Stone Mountain?s racist tourist attraction and the minstrel tradition.

Unter Verweisen auf Soziologie und Science-Fiction brachte Peter Halley in den 1980er-Jahren frischen Wind in die Malerei. Mit Neonfarben und Roll-A-Tex-Sandtextur dekonstruierte er transzendente geometrische Abstraktionen von Beginn und Mitte des 20. Jahrhunderts zu abstrakten Zellen und Gefängnissen und verband sie augenzwinkernd durch Kanäle mit der Außenwelt. Durch die Verortung seiner Malerei in der Schnittmenge zwischen analoger und digitaler Welt greift Peter Halley viele Herausforderungen des Informationszeitalters und des französischen Poststrukturalismus auf. Hobbs‘ Monografie analysiert Halleys fast hermetisch verschlüsselte geometrische Kunst mit Blick auf die Möglichkeiten des Internets, die ästhetischen Optionen von Photoshop, die Aktualität der soziologischen Theorien von Michel Foucault und Jean Baudrillard sowie die ungelösten Rätsel gleichermaßen von Science Fiction und Physik.