Teaching Art in a Post-Modern World

Arts & Activities, Sept, 2003

(2002; $22.50) by Lee Emery. The Learner/ Common Ground Publishing, P.O. Box 463, Altona, Victoria 3018, Australia.

Those who teach art today are confronted with competing, sometimes contradictory, views. On the one hand, there are those who seek justifications based upon enduring views about the nature of art; on the other, there are people who recognize the changing contexts and circumstances for creating and viewing art. This is a book that thoughtfully traces the shifts from Modernist to Postmodernist perspective.

In the view of the author, Lee Emery, Postmodernism offers art teachers an expanded opportunity to rethink the role of art education in a new millennium. The book is divided into three sections: the first offers a summary of key differences between Modernist and Postmodernist art and art education; the second offers the reflection of 13 secondary art teachers from schools in Australia and England about their own teaching distinctions; and a third offers seven interpretive frameworks (key questions for students and specific references as to artists whose works can be used in class discussions).

The interpretive frameworks suggest means for guiding students to use Modernist and Formalist approaches in considering wider aesthetic and social issues when making and responding to art. Overall, this is an excellent book for use at the college level or in staff-development workshops.--J.J.H. For information about this publication, circle No. 394 on the Reader Service Card.