Nouveau Réalisme, 1960s France, and the Neo-avant-garde

Jill Carrick teaches art history and cultural theory at Carleton University, Canada, in the department of Art History and the Institute for Comparative Studies in Literature, Art and Culture. Her research interests include collaborative art and interdisciplinary theory.

• Contents: Introduction: topographies of chance and return; The nouveau réaliste object: Restany's theories of appropriation; Avant-garde or néo?; Restaging commodity spectacle; Phallic victories? Nouveau réaliste performance; Archaeologies of the present; Afterword; Bibliography; Index.

'Carrick enables us to see this corpus afresh, providing a rigorous historical study of key works and artists affiliated with the movement, analyzing the works' cultural politics and the critical debates it engendered... I know of no comparable study in North America or abroad.' Rebecca DeRoo, Washington University St. Louis, USA, author of The Museum Establishment and Contemporary Art: The Politics of Artistic Display in France after 1968 'Carrick’s book is the first critical study in English of the Nouveaux Réalistes group, formed in Paris in 1960. Much of the writing on the group (in any language) has been written under the shadow of its founder, Pierre Restany; Carrick’s book is important as it is the first to be published after his death in 2003, and diverges considerably from the French critic’s doctrinaire reading of their works.' Burlington Magazine 'This is a fascinating book: the first critical exposé in English of French critic Pierre Restany’s Nouveau réalisme movement...' H-France 'Carrick’s book is an invaluable contribution to the study of a crucial art group that has enjoyed visibility in the art world and museums, but whose heterogeneity [...] has thus far discouraged art historians from providing comprehensive accounts.' Immediations '... new, in-depth readings of specific artists... Carrick’s is the first book-length critical volume in English on the group.' Art Journal