Humor in Global Contemporary Art

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Pursuing a new and timely line of research in world art studies, Humor in Global Contemporary Art is the first edited collection to examine the role of culturally specific humor in contemporary art from a global perspective.

Since the 1960s, increasing numbers of artists from around the world have applied humor as a tool for observation, critique, transformation, and debate. Exploring how humorous art produced over the past six decades is anchored in local sociopolitical contexts and translated or misconstrued when exhibited abroad, this book opens new conversations regarding the functioning of humor and the ways in which art travels across the globe. With contributions by an impressive array of internationally based scholars covering six major continental regions, the book is organized into four distinct geographical sections: Africa and the Middle East, Asia and Oceania, South and North America, and Europe. This structure highlights the cultural specificity of each region while the book as a whole offers a critical perspective on the postcolonial, globalized art network.

Reflecting on present-day processes of globalization and biennialization, which confront viewers with humorous art from a variety of cultures and countries, this book will provide readers with a culturally sensitive understanding of how humor has become vital to many contemporary artists working in an unprecedentedly interconnected world.

Reviews

There is a specter haunting contemporary art and its name is humor. Gieskes and Williams have assembled an impressive group of scholars who span continents and contexts, exploring the work of artists who know how to provoke laughter while spurring critical thinking. Comedic gadflies of the globe unite! * Louis Kaplan, Professor, Department of Art History & Department of Visual Studies, University of Toronto, Canada; author of Photography and Humour (2016) *
Exploring a topic long overlooked, this book cogently shows that artistic humor comes in many guises: as parody, irony, (tragi)comedy, anecdotes, tricksters pranks, jokes, puns, or mocked clichs; as (self)criticism, dark humor, tongue-in-cheek jest, or fake news. In all cases, though, the humorous signifiers are culturally and politically coded and context-dependent. * Kitty Zijlmans, Professor Emeritus of Contemporary Art History and Theory/World Art Studies, Leiden University, the Netherlands *
Upping the antics of funny scholarship, this timely anthology offers a uniquely wide-angled perspective; from Pakistan and Palestine to Asia and Aotoroa/New Zealand; on formations of global, national, regional and local humor. Traveling outside the Freudian slipstream, this volume tracks how comedy plays out in border conflicts, stereotypes, activism and community and identity formations. It leavens, sublimates and jousts with, even ameliorates, our whole earth catalogue of woes. * John C. Welchman, Distinguished Professor of Art History, University of California, San Diego, USA; editor of Black Sphinx: On the Comedic in Modern Art (2010) *

Author Bio

Mette Gieskes is Assistant Professor at Radboud University, The Netherlands.

Gregory H. Williams is Associate Professor of Contemporary Art at Boston University, USA.