Background
James P. Elkins was born on October 13, 1955, in Ithaca, New York, United States.
Ithaca, New York 14850, United States
Cornell University
Chicago, Illinois, United States
University of Chicago
36 S Wabash Ave #1201, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
(Perspective has been a divided subject, orphaned among va...)
Perspective has been a divided subject, orphaned among various disciplines from philosophy to gardening. In the first book to bring together recent thinking on perspective from such fields as art history, literary theory, aesthetics, psychology, and the history of mathematics, James Elkins leads us to a new understanding of how we talk about pictures. Elkins provides an abundantly illustrated history of the theory and practice of perspective. Looking at key texts from the Renaissance to the present, he traces a fundamental historical change that took place in the way in which perspective was conceptualized; first a technique for constructing pictures, it slowly became a metaphor for subjectivity. That gradual transformation, he observes, has led to the rifts that today separate those who understand perspective as a historical or formal property of pictures from those who see it as a linguistic, cognitive, or epistemological metaphor. Elkins considers how the principal concepts of perspective have been rewritten in work by Erwin Panofsky, Hubert Damisch, Martin Jay, Paul Ricoeur, Jacques Lacan, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and E. H. Gombrich. The Poetics of Perspective illustrates that perspective is an unusual kind of subject: it exists as a coherent idea, but no one discipline offers an adequate exposition of it. Rather than presenting perspective as a resonant metaphor for subjectivity, a painter's tool without meaning, a disused historical practice, or a model for vision and representation, Elkins proposes a comprehensive revaluation. The perspective he describes is at once a series of specific pictorial decisions and a powerful figure for our knowledge of the world.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0801427967/?tag=2022091-20
1994
(A thoughtful study on how our eyes function with our brai...)
A thoughtful study on how our eyes function with our brains examines the irrational elements of physical sight and concludes that human seeing transforms both the viewer and the object being viewed. 15,000 first printing.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0684800950/?tag=2022091-20
1996
(James Elkins's How to Use Your Eyes invites us to look at...)
James Elkins's How to Use Your Eyes invites us to look at--and maybe to see for the first time--the world around us, with breathtaking results. Here are the common artifacts of life, often misunderstood and largely ignored, brought into striking focus. With the discerning eye of a painter and the zeal of a detective, Elkins explores complicated things like mandalas, the periodic table, or a hieroglyph, remaking the world into a treasure box of observations--eccentric, ordinary, marvelous.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000SF9U3K/?tag=2022091-20
(This is a guidebook for art students at the college level...)
This is a guidebook for art students at the college level (BA, BFA, MFA, PhD). Compared to other books on critique, this book is more colorful, more engaging, and less formal. "James Elkins is one of the world's leading educators in the visual arts. In Art Critiques: A Guide, Elkins shines his bright light across the long overlooked shadowland of studio education. Beautifully written and easy to use, this book is an absolute must for art students and faculty alike." -George Smith, Founder & President, Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts. "Elkins introduces refreshing commonsense in the tired and tiresome activity of the critique of art works by students. A dissection geared to avoid or delay a future autopsy of the field, the book uses case studies that teach as much about "how to" as they do about 'how not to.' A nice and often funny exercise in debunking, Art Critiques: A Guide is also a fascinating analysis of the successes and failures in communication among people." -Luis Camnitzer, Professor Emeritus, State University of New York, and Pedagogical Advisor to the Cisneros Foundation. "James Elkins is one of the world's leading educators in the visual arts. In Art Critiques: A Guide, Elkins shines his bright light across the long overlooked shadowland of studio education. Beautifully written and easy to use, this book is an absolute must for art students and faculty alike." -George Smith, Founder & President, Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts. "Elkins introduces refreshing commonsense in the tired and tiresome activity of the critique of art works by students. A dissection geared to avoid or delay a future autopsy of the field, the book uses case studies that teach as much about "how to" as they do about 'how not to.' A nice and often funny exercise in debunking, Art Critiques: A Guide is also a fascinating analysis of the successes and failures in communication among people." -Luis Camnitzer, Professor Emeritus, State University of New York, and Pedagogical Advisor to the Cisneros Foundation. -George Smith, Founder & President, Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts. "Elkins introduces refreshing commonsense in the tired and tiresome activity of the critique of art works by students. A dissection geared to avoid or delay a future autopsy of the field, the book uses case studies that teach as much about "how to" as they do about 'how not to.' A nice and often funny exercise in debunking, Art Critiques: A Guide is also a fascinating analysis of the successes and failures in communication among people." -Luis Camnitzer, Professor Emeritus, State University of New York, and Pedagogical Advisor to the Cisneros Foundation. "Elkins introduces refreshing commonsense in the tired and tiresome activity of the critique of art works by students. A dissection geared to avoid or delay a future autopsy of the field, the book uses case studies that teach as much about "how to" as they do about 'how not to.' A nice and often funny exercise in debunking, Art Critiques: A Guide is also a fascinating analysis of the successes and failures in communication among people." -Luis Camnitzer, Professor Emeritus, State University of New York, and Pedagogical Advisor to the Cisneros Foundation.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0990693929/?tag=2022091-20
(Unlike many books on painting that usually talk about art...)
Unlike many books on painting that usually talk about art or painters, James Elkins’ compelling and original work focuses on alchemy, for like the alchemist, the painter seeks to transform and be transformed by the medium. In What Painting Is, James Elkins communicates the experience of painting beyond the traditional vocabulary of art history. Alchemy provides a magical language to explore what it is a painter really does in her or his studio - the smells, the mess, the struggle to control the uncontrollable, the special knowledge only painters hold of how colours will mix, and how they will look. Written from the perspective of a painter-turned-art historian, What Painting Is is like nothing you have ever read about art.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000OI0I3M/?tag=2022091-20
(In this smart survival guide for students and teachers--t...)
In this smart survival guide for students and teachers--the only book of its kind--James Elkins examines the "curious endeavor to teach the unteachable" that is generally known as college-level art instruction. This singular project is organized around a series of conflicting claims about art: "Art can be taught, but nobody knows quite how." "Art can be taught, but it seems as if it can't be since so few students become outstanding artists." "Art cannot be taught, but it can be fostered or helped along." "Art cannot be taught or even nourished, but it is possible to teach right up to the beginnings of art so that students are ready to make art the moment they graduate." "Great art cannot be taught, but more run-of-the-mill art can be." Elkins traces the development (or invention) of the modern art school and considers how issues such as the question of core curriculum and the intellectual isolation of art schools affect the teaching and learning of art. He also addresses the phenomenon of art critiques as a microcosm for teaching art as a whole and dissects real-life critiques, highlighting presuppositions and dynamics that make them confusing and suggesting ways to make them more helpful. Elkins's no-nonsense approach clears away the assumptions about art instruction that are not borne out by classroom practice. For example, he notes that despite much talk about instilling visual acuity and teaching technique, in practice neither teachers nor students behave as if those were their principal goals. He addresses the absurdity of pretending that sexual issues are absent from life-drawing classes and questions the practice of holding up great masters and masterpieces as models for students capable of producing only mediocre art. He also discusses types of art--including art that takes time to complete and art that isn't serious--that cannot be learned in studio art classes. Why Art Cannot Be Taught is a response to Elkins's observation that "we know very little about what we do" in the art classroom. His incisive commentary illuminates the experience of learning art for those involved in it, while opening an intriguing window for those outside the discipline. In this smart survival guide for students and teachers--the only book of its kind--James Elkins examines the "curious endeavor to teach the unteachable" that is generally known as college-level art instruction. This singular project is organized around a series of conflicting claims about art: "Art can be taught, but nobody knows quite how." "Art can be taught, but it seems as if it can't be since so few students become outstanding artists." "Art cannot be taught, but it can be fostered or helped along." "Art cannot be taught or even nourished, but it is possible to teach right up to the beginnings of art so that students are ready to make art the moment they graduate." "Great art cannot be taught, but more run-of-the-mill art can be." Elkins traces the development (or invention) of the modern art school and considers how issues such as the question of core curriculum and the intellectual isolation of art schools affect the teaching and learning of art. He also addresses the phenomenon of art critiques as a microcosm for teaching art as a whole and dissects real-life critiques, highlighting presuppositions and dynamics that make them confusing and suggesting ways to make them more helpful. Elkins's no-nonsense approach clears away the assumptions about art instruction that are not borne out by classroom practice. For example, he notes that despite much talk about instilling visual acuity and teaching technique, in practice neither teachers nor students behave as if those were their principal goals. He addresses the absurdity of pretending that sexual issues are absent from life-drawing classes and questions the practice of holding up great masters and masterpieces as models for students capable of producing only mediocre art. He also discusses types of art--including art that takes time to complete and art that isn't serious--that cannot be learned in studio art classes. Why Art Cannot Be Taught is a response to Elkins's observation that "we know very little about what we do" in the art classroom. His incisive commentary illuminates the experience of learning art for those involved in it, while opening an intriguing window for those outside the discipline.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015EVKFJK/?tag=2022091-20
(Art Does art leave you cold? And is that what it's suppos...)
Art Does art leave you cold? And is that what it's supposed to do? Or is a painting meant to move you to tears? Hemingway was reduced to tears in the midst of a drinking bout when a painting by James Thurber caught his eye. And what's bad about that? In Pictures and Tears, art historian James Elkins tells the story of paintings that have made people cry. Drawing upon anecdotes related to individual works of art, he provides a chronicle of how people have shown emotion before works of art in the past, and a meditation on the curious tearlessness with which most people approach art in the present. Deeply personal, Pictures and Tears is a history of emotion and vulnerability, and an inquiry into the nature of art. This book is a rare and invaluable treasure for people who love art. Also includes an 8-page color insert.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000P28SDY/?tag=2022091-20
(In his latest book, James Elkins offers a road map throug...)
In his latest book, James Elkins offers a road map through the field of visual studies, describing its major concerns and its principal theoretical sources. Then, with the skill and insight that have marked his successful books on art and visuality, Elkins takes the reader down a side road where visual studies can become a more interesting place. Why look only at the same handful of theorists? Why exclude from one's field of vision non-Western art or the wealth of scientific images?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FDR4D9O/?tag=2022091-20
(What Is an Image? raises the stakes for writing in art hi...)
What Is an Image? raises the stakes for writing in art history, visual studies, art theory, and art criticism by questioning one of the most fundamental terms of all, the image or picture. This innovative collection gathers some of the most influential historians and theorists working on images to discuss what the visual has come to mean. Topics include concepts such as image and picture in the West and outside it; the reception and rejection of semiotics; the question of what is outside the image; the question of whether images have a distinct nature or are products of discourse, like language; the relationship between images and religious meanings; and the study of non-art images in medicine, science, and technology. Among the major writers represented in this book are Gottfried Boehm, Michael Ann Holly, Jacqueline Lichtenstein, W. J. T. Mitchell, Marie-José Mondzain, Keith Moxey, Parul Dave Mukherji, Wolfram Pichler, Alex Potts, and Adrian Rifkin.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0271050640/?tag=2022091-20
(The near-absence of religion from contemporary discourse ...)
The near-absence of religion from contemporary discourse on art is one of the most fundamental issues in postmodernism. Artists critical of religion can find voices in the art world, but religion itself, including spirituality, is taken to be excluded by the very project of modernism. The sublime, "re-enchantment" (as in Weber), and the aura (as in Benjamin) have been used to smuggle religious concepts back into academic writing, but there is still no direct communication between "religionists" and scholars. Re-Enchantment, volume 7 in The Art Seminar Series, will be the first book to bridge that gap. The volume will include an introduction and two final, synoptic essays, as well as contributions from some of the most prominent thinkers on religion and art including Boris Groys, James Elkins, Thierry de Duve, David Morgan, Norman Girardot, Sally Promey, Brent Plate, and Christopher Pinney.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001OLRO76/?tag=2022091-20
educator art historian writer art critic
James P. Elkins was born on October 13, 1955, in Ithaca, New York, United States.
Elkins obtained bachelor's degree at the Cornell University in 1977. In 1983 he received Master of Arts and Master of Fine Arts degrees from the University of Chicago, also earning his doctor's degree from that educational institution, in 1989.
James Elkins has taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago since 1989. Currently, he is E.C. Chadbourne Chair in the Department of Art History, Theory, and Criticism.
Concerning his writings, he focuses on the history and theory of images in art, science, and nature. Some of his books include fine art, another - scientific and non-art images, writing systems and archaeology.
Now Elkins leads projects, that include a series the Stone Summer Theory Institutes, a book The Project of Painting: 1900-2000, a series Theories of Modernism and Postmodernism in the Visual Art, and a book written against Camera Lucida. He is also a contributor to a great number of articles to academic journals.
(Art Does art leave you cold? And is that what it's suppos...)
(Unlike many books on painting that usually talk about art...)
(In this smart survival guide for students and teachers--t...)
(A thoughtful study on how our eyes function with our brai...)
1996(What Is an Image? raises the stakes for writing in art hi...)
(In his latest book, James Elkins offers a road map throug...)
(James Elkins's How to Use Your Eyes invites us to look at...)
(The near-absence of religion from contemporary discourse ...)
(Perspective has been a divided subject, orphaned among va...)
1994(This is a guidebook for art students at the college level...)
Elkins married Margaret MacNamidhe on August 20, 1994.