From Publishers Weekly
For 10 years, from the mid-'80s to the mid-'90s, artist and designer Susan Bee and Mira Schor, a painter on the faculty of the Parsons School of Design, edited a magazine they had founded, devoted to "visual pleasure with a culturally activist edge." Bee and Schor have culled 40 of the most representative essays, reviews, critical forums, interviews and "musings" for M/E/A/N/I/N/G: An Anthology of Artists' Writings, Theory, and Criticism, which takes its name from their magazine. Book artist Johanna Drucker contributes a foreword; Alison Knowles, Carolee Schneemann, Richard Tuttle, Nancy K. Miller, Rackstraw Downes, Joanna Freuh, Jerry Saltz and many others weigh in. The book makes for a fascinating snapshot of a transitional era in American art, one whose terms and preoccupations are still being reworked and worked out. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

M/E/A/N/I/N/G brings together essays and commentary by over a hundred artists, critics, and poets, culled from the art magazine of the same name. The editors￯﾿ﾽartists Susan Bee and Mira Schor￯﾿ﾽhave selected the liveliest and most provocative pieces from the maverick magazine that bucked commercial gallery interests and media hype during its ten-year tenure (1986￯﾿ﾽ96) to explore visual pleasure with a culturally activist edge.

With its emphasis on artists￯﾿ﾽ perspectives of aesthetic and social issues, this anthology provides a unique opportunity to enter into the fray of the most hotly contested art issues of the past few decades: the visibility of women artists, sexuality and the arts, censorship, art world racism, the legacies of modernism, artists as mothers, visual art in the digital age, and the rewards and toils of a lifelong career in art. The stellar cast of contributing artists and art writers includes Nancy Spero, Richard Tuttle, David Humphrey, Thomas McEvilley, Laura Cottingham, Johanna Drucker, David Reed, Carolee Schneemann, Whitney Chadwick, Robert Storr, Leon Golub, Charles Bernstein, and Alison Knowles.

This compelling and theoretically savvy collection will be of interest to artists, art historians, critics, and a general audience interested in the views of practicing artists.

About the Authors:

Susan Bee is an artist, editor, and designer who founded, coedited, and designed M/E/A/N/I/N/G magazine. She shows her paintings at A.I.R. Gallery in New York City and her artist￯﾿ﾽs books include Little Orphan Anagram and Log Rhythms.

Mira Schor is on the faculty of the Fine Arts Department at Parsons School of Design. An award-winning painter and former coeditor and founder of M/E/A/N/I/N/G magazine, she is the author of Wet: On Painting, Feminism, and Art Culture, also published by Duke University Press.

FROM THE CRITICS

Tee A. Corinne - Tee A. Corinne, Queer Caucus for Art Newsletter

￯﾿ﾽThe intellectual quality, especially of the Cottingham and Cronin/Kass pieces, is very satisfying. There is no doubt in my mind this is an improvement over previous anthologies.￯﾿ﾽ

Umbrella Magazine

￯﾿ﾽM/E/A/N/I/N/G collates 10 years of incisive criticism and observations on contemporary culture by artists who really had something to say and said it well. It was open, unaligned, and unmitigated, so that it never had one point of view but as many as it needed to get the job done. . . . [A] thick, full, and rich digest of a very significant artist publication. The only regret is that it no longer is being published.￯﾿ﾽ

Seminary Co-Op Bookstore - Seminary Co-Op Bookstore

￯﾿ﾽAmidst the commercialized, over-inflated atmosphere (whether it be in egos or prices) of the 1980s art world, emerged the extraordinary journal M/E/A/N/I/N/G. . . . Reading through the selections in this anthology one is struck by the differing textures and voices as well as by the inventiveness the journal allowed. . . . [A] remarkable group of artists. . .￯﾿ﾽ

Publishers Weekly

For 10 years, from the mid-'80s to the mid-'90s, artist and designer Susan Bee and Mira Schor, a painter on the faculty of the Parsons School of Design, edited a magazine they had founded, devoted to "visual pleasure with a culturally activist edge." Bee and Schor have culled 40 of the most representative essays, reviews, critical forums, interviews and "musings" for M/E/A/N/I/N/G: An Anthology of Artists' Writings, Theory, and Criticism, which takes its name from their magazine. Book artist Johanna Drucker contributes a foreword; Alison Knowles, Carolee Schneemann, Richard Tuttle, Nancy K. Miller, Rackstraw Downes, Joanna Freuh, Jerry Saltz and many others weigh in. The book makes for a fascinating snapshot of a transitional era in American art, one whose terms and preoccupations are still being reworked and worked out. ( Feb.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

￯﾿ﾽM/E/A/N/I/N/G reflects a time when artists were, in a sense, the critical theorists of the moment. Mira Schor and Susan Bee inspired many of them to write about the subjects that were closest to their hearts, minds, and art.￯﾿ﾽ — Elizabeth Hess, art critic

Moira Roth