Abstract Art-Global History

 An esteemed expert on the subject offers an unconventional approach to the study of abstract art in this compelling, copiously illustrated work. Art historian Pepe Karmel reinterprets abstract art from a global standpoint, connecting it to tangible realities. He demonstrates how people all over the world have used abstract imagery to mirror their social, cultural, and spiritual states. His insightful narrative is organized around five overarching motifs: body, landscape, cosmology, architecture, and man-made symbols and designs.

He surveys works from untraveled countries like Asia, Africa, Australia, and South America, from venerated artists like Wu Guanzhong, Joan Miró, Jackson Pollock, Hilma af Klint, and Odili Donald Odita. Karmel's groundbreaking book introduces a new chronicle of this artistic genre.