cover image Paris Manhattan: Writings on Art

Paris Manhattan: Writings on Art

Peter Wollen. Verso, $20 (272pp) ISBN 978-1-85984-403-8

In this rich and insightful new collection of essays on art, Wollen, who is currently the chair of the department of film, television and digital media at UCLA, offers his take on a slew of miscellaneous topics ranging from military tanks to Frederick Jackson Turner to Michael Thompson's rubbish theory. Presented in hodge-podge order, the collection as a whole often feels disjointed, but what it lacks in organizational structure, it more than makes up for in concise writing and acute observations. The author is at his best when avoiding more philosophical discussions (such as global conceptualism) and focusing on specific works of art. Whether offering a close reading of Gerhard Richter's October 18, 1977 painting cycle or tracing the relationship between Hitchcock and Barthes (through Burgin), Wollen pulls together research from unexpected sources and seamlessly integrates them into his own multifaceted approach. A chapter on Magritte's frequent use of bowler hats, for example, offers up five disparate sources--detective fiction, performing arts, Purism, fashion and patriarchy--to explain the iconography of the Belgian painter's trademark headgear. In another chapter, Wollen begins a discussion of the myth of the American West with an anecdote about 1920s New York Salon-ist Mabel Dodge. With this splendid volume, Wollen has produced yet another vibrant and perceptively written tome that highlights the former film theorist's extensive knowledge of vastly different historical contexts and visual mediums.