Sculpture and Archaeology

This collection of 11 essays grew out of a conference at Leeds Art Gallery in 2004 called Object-Excavation-Intervention. They are about the inter-connections between historical (archaeologically excavated) and contemporary sculpture. They are organized around themes of metaphor and models; excavation, site and place; the status of the fragment; excavation, myth and modernity; and the politics of sculpture and archaeology. The essays are less about archeological science than bringing together the concerns of aesthetics and the art of excavation and curatorial presentation. Each contains at least a few black and white photographs of such powerful subjects as the victims of Pompeii or massive lithic statues of prehistoric Britain. The contributors are a mix of art historians, museum studies experts, archaeologists, artists, and anthropologists. Bonaventura (fine art studies, U. of Oxford) and Jones (prehistoric anthropology, U. of Southampton) provide an introduction. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Paul Bonaventura is the Senior Research Fellow in Fine Art Studiesat the Ruskin School of Drawing & Fine Art, University of Oxford.
Andrew Jones is Reader in Prehistoric Archaeology at the University of Southampton.