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Article: PATHOS AT ABU GHRAIB.(The Abu Ghraib Effect)(Book review)
- Article from:
- Afterimage
- Article date:
- May 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Visual Studies Workshop. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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THE ABU GHRAIB EFFECT
BY STEPHEN F. EISENMAN
LONDON: REAKTION BOOKS, 2007
128 PP./$19.95 (HB)
Where are the painters of modern life whose imagery has even a fraction of the disruptive impact of film footage of the September 11th attacks or the digital snapshots from Abu Ghraib jail? They are thin on the ground, according to some. For such naysayers as the dissident collective Retort, contemporary art, whatever its political orientation, is too integrated into the spectacular commodity economy to pose any serious threat to anyone [see Afterimage Vol. 34, no. 4 for an interview with Retort]. It is a pessimistic assumption, but does not ...