Islands and Contemporary Art

Gill Perry is Emeritus Professor of Art History at the Open University, UK. Her books include Women Artists and the Parisian Avant-Garde (1995), Themes in Contemporary Art (editor, 2004), Spectacular Flirtations: Viewing the Actress in British Art and Theatre, 1768–1820 (2007) and Playing at Home: The House in Contemporary Art (Reaktion, 2013).

"Gill Perry has produced something remarkable for anyone interested in contemporary art and culture. Islands and Contemporary Art is a totally captivating and accessible survey of works and ideas illuminating our relationship to islands, both real and imaginary. It addresses important issues about how we value art, literature and film in a way that will be of interest to anyone seeking to understand the forces – ecological, cultural and political – shaping our world." - Michael Corris, Professor Emeritus of Art, Southern Methodist University"In this exemplary and curious interweaving of themes, environments, communities and artworks, Gill Perry mobilizes an ecologically aware, feminist and postcolonial intelligence in the exploration of a conceptual archipelago of allegory, myth and creative place making. This generously illustrated book explores gender, ecology, politics and aesthetics, entangled with the facts and fantasies of island stories. It provides an insightful understanding of how artists work to stimulate spectacular and elemental intimations of these elusive themes." - Barry Curtis, Istituto Marangoni and Central Saint Martins, London"For artists the island offers an irresistible trope of paradise and dystopia. Like an incredible group exhibition – museums take note! – Gill Perry’s unprecedented study takes the legacy of Robert Smithson as her point of departure for an enthralling journey around the practices of 21st-century artists. Spanning a vast range of mediums and aesthetic and conceptual strategies, her beautifully written and revelatory survey reveals the deeper concerns shaping the art of our time as artists engage with the legacies of patriarchy, colonialism and environmental destruction. Essential reading for students, scholars, curators and practitioners, this book will also be illuminating for the interested lay reader." - Iwona Blazwick, curator, Arts AlUla, and author