Rhetorical Image. 1991; 98 pages; paperback; 69 b/w illustrations. Rhetorical Image features works concerning the social, political, and cultural forces that condition communication. Felix Gonzalez-Torres, On Kawara, Lawrence Weiner and seventeen other artists explore forms of persuasion such as advertising and propaganda and in doing so examine their own uses of language and imagery to influence viewer perceptions. Essays by Susan Daitch, Nena Dimitrijevic, Friedrich Durrenmatt, Bruce Ferguson and Milena Kalinovska examine the development and current usage of artistic rhetoric on an international level, with special emphasis on Eastern European trends. Also Included are interviews with the artists and pages designed by them. “Though the Cold War may be over, we face a growing conservativism and the kind of complacency about social issues that stems from the general belief that, since there are no clear problems, there are no problems at all. It is for this reason that I have gathered together artists who speak about issues - not as authorities in possession of knowledge that the audience is passively to accept, but rather as people resolved to speak and seek answers.” -Milena Kalinovska, Introduction, p. 13. Artists: Dennis Adams, Art and Language, Judith Barry, Lothar Baumgarten, Braco Dimitrijevic, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Rose Finn-Kelcey, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Tomislav Gotovac, Thomas Huber, Ilya Kabakov, On Kawara, Jiri Kolar, Jaroslaw Kozlowski, Cildo Meireles, Tatsuo Miyajima, Antonio Muntadas, Barbara Steinman, Lawrence Weiner, Krzysztof Wodiczko. Exhibition Catalogue. 9 in. x 12 in.

Funding: The New Museum