Critical approach Rosalind E. Krauss

1 critical approach

1.1 greenbergian tradition
1.2 translating ephemeralities prose
1.3 picasso s collages
1.4 freudian theory
1.5 interpreting pollock

critical approach
greenbergian tradition

krauss s attempts understand phenomenon of modernist art, in historical, theoretical, , formal dimensions, have led in various directions. has, example, been interested in development of photography, history – running parallel of modernist painting , sculpture – makes visible overlooked phenomena in high arts , such role of indexical mark, or function of archive. has investigated concepts, such formlessness , optical unconscious , or pastiche , organize modernist practice in relation different explanatory grids of progressive modernism, or avant-garde.

like many, krauss had been drawn criticism of clement greenberg, counterweight highly subjective, poetic approach of harold rosenberg. poet-critic model proved long-lasting in new york scene, products frank o hara kynaston mcshine peter schjeldahl, krauss , others, basis in subjective expression fatally unable account how particular artwork s objective structure gives rise associated subjective effects.

greenberg s way of assessing how art object works, or how put together, became krauss fruitful resource; if , fellow greenberger , michael fried, break first older critic, , each other, @ particular moments of judgment, commitment formal analysis necessary if not sufficient ground of serious criticism still remain both of them. decades after first engagement greenberg, krauss still used ideas artwork s medium jumping-off point strongest effort come terms post-1980 art in person of william kentridge. krauss formulate formalist commitment in strong terms, against attempts account powerful artworks in terms of residual ideas artist s individual genius, instance in essays originality of avant-garde: postmodernist repetition , photography s discursive spaces. krauss, , school of critics developed under influence, greenbergian legacy offers @ best way of accounting works of art using public , hence verifiable criteria.

translating ephemeralities prose

whether (cubist collage, surrealist photography, giacometti sculpture, rodin, brâncuși, pollock) or art contemporaneous own writing (robert morris, sol lewitt, richard serra, cindy sherman), krauss translates ephemeralities of visual , bodily experience precise, vivid english, has solidified prestige critic. usual practice make experience intelligible using categories translated work of thinker outside study of art, such maurice merleau-ponty, ferdinand de saussure, jacques lacan, jean-françois lyotard, jacques derrida, georges bataille, or roland barthes. indeed, participated in translation of lacan s key text television published in october , later reissued in book form norton. work has helped establish position of these writers within study of art, @ cost of provoking anxiety threats discipline s autonomy. preparing second volume of collected essays sequel originality of avant garde , other modernist myths (1986).

in many cases, krauss credited leader in bringing these concepts bear on study of modern art. instance, passages in modern sculpture (1977) makes important use of merleau-ponty s phenomenology (as had come understand in thinking minimal art) viewing modern sculpture in general. in study of surrealist photography, rejected william rubin s efforts @ formal categorization insufficient, instead advocating psychoanalytic categories of dream , automatism , jacques derrida s grammatological idea of spacing. see photographic conditions of surrealism (october, winter 1981).

picasso s collages

concerning cubist art, took picasso s collage breakthrough explicable in terms of saussure s ideas differential relations , non-referentiality of language, rejecting efforts other scholars tie pasted newspaper clippings social history. similarly, held picasso s stylistic developments in cubist portraiture products of theoretical problems internal art, rather outcomes of artist s love life. later, explained picasso s participation in rappel à l ordre or return order of 1920s in similar structuralist terms. see in name of picasso (october, spring 1981), motivation of sign (in lynn zelevansky, ed., picasso , braque: symposium, 1992), , picasso papers (farrar, straus , giroux, 1998).

freudian theory

from 1980s, became increasingly concerned using psychoanalytic understanding of drives , unconscious, owing less freudianism of andré breton or salvador dalí, , more structuralist lacan , dissident surrealist bataille. see no more play , 1984 essay on giacometti, corpus delicti , written 1985 exhibition l amour fou: photography , surrealism, cindy sherman: 1975–1993 , optical unconscious (both 1993) , formless: user s guide yve-alain bois, catalog exhibition l informe: mode d emploi (paris: centre pompidou, 1996).

interpreting pollock

years after time @ artforum in 1960s, krauss returned drip painting of jackson pollock both culmination of modernist work within format of easel picture , , breakthrough opened way several important developments in later art, allan kaprow s happenings richard serra s lead-flinging process art andy warhol s oxidation (i.e. urination) paintings. reference, see pollock chapter in optical unconscious, several entries in formless catalog, , beyond easel picture , contribution moma symposium accompanying 1998 pollock retrospective (jackson pollock: new approaches). direction provided intellectual validation explosive pollock markets; exacerbated tense relations between herself , more radical currents in visual/cultural studies, latter growing steadily impatient traditional western art-historical canon.

in addition writing focused studies individual artists, krauss produced broader, synthetic studies helped gather , define limits of particular fields of practice. examples of include sense , sensibility: reflections on post 60s sculpture (artforum, nov. 1973), video: aesthetics of narcissism (october, spring 1976), notes on index: seventies art in america , in 2 parts, october spring , fall 1977), grids, , in grids: format , image in 20th century art (exh. cat.: pace gallery, 1978), , sculpture in expanded field (october, spring 1979). of these essays collected in book originality of avant-garde , other modernist myths.