Minor Bestiary: Time and Labyrinth in Contemporary Art is a discerning examination of recent trends in contemporary art. The author pays keen attention to new art’s contradictory role shaped by the four powerful poles of circulation, activism, critical discourse, and the commodification of art. Engaging with the prevailing currents of art production, Neves scrutinizes financial influence, curatorial practice, and the allure of prestige that shapes the artistic landscape together. Through a compelling narrative, Neves proposes a shift from grand curatorial narratives towards a “minor art” while confronting the art world’s complicity in broader geopolitical frameworks, particularly in how art intersects with planetary-scale tourism.
Eduarda Neves is an independent curator with an undergraduate degree in Philosophy and a Ph.D. in Aesthetics. She is the director of ESAP—Porto Art School director, and a member of the Committee responsible for selecting the Official Portuguese Representation at the 60th Venice Biennale.
“This text is a sort of anti-manifesto, a disruption of the sensus communis that, as Bourdieu would say, is ingrained in that which underpins our sense of the commonplace. And so I invite you to join me on this reading journey—albeit not without urging you to let go of fears and prejudices to rethink our own certainties and affections, our knowledges and behaviours, and to reassess the rigid nomenclatures we carry almost as part of our genetic makeup. Hopefully, by the end, we will be able to renew the language and tactics we use to talk about art and ourselves.” -Claudia González Marrero, author of Literature, politics and Society: Four Representations of Imaginaries in the Cuban Revolution ( Hypermedia, 2021)
Cover: Perfect Present, Patricia Reed, 2013
Publication: May 2024
114pp., 11.4×17.8cm
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