Contemporary art has never been so popular, but what is its role today and who is controlling its future? Contemporary art is supposed to be a realm of freedom where artists shock, break taboos, flout generally received ideas, and switch between confronting viewers with works of great emotional profundity and jaw-dropping triviality. But away from shock tactics in the gallery, there are many unanswered questions. Who is really running the art world? What effect has America's growing political and cultural dominance had on art?

Here Julian Stallabrass takes us inside the international art world to answer these and other controversial questions, and to argue that behind contemporary art's variety and apparent unpredictability lies a grim uniformity. Its mysteries are all too easily explained, its depths much shallower than they seem. Contemporary art seeks to bamboozle its viewers while being the willing slave of business and government. This book is your antidote and will change the way you see contemporary art.

当代艺术从未如此受欢迎，但它今天的作用是什么，谁在控制它的未来？当代艺术应该是一个自由的领域，在这里，艺术家们震惊，打破禁忌，蔑视普遍接受的观念，并在面对观众的作品中切换出情感的深刻性和令人瞠目结舌的琐碎性。但是，在画廊里远离震惊的策略，有许多未解答的问题。谁在真正管理艺术界？美国日益增长的政治和文化主导地位对艺术产生了什么影响？

在这里，朱利安-斯塔布拉斯带我们进入国际艺术界，回答这些问题和其他有争议的问题，并认为在当代艺术的多样性和表面上的不可预测性的背后是一个严峻的统一性。它的神秘性太容易解释了，它的深度比它们看起来要浅得多。当代艺术试图迷惑它的观众，同时成为商业和政府的自愿奴隶。这本书是你的解药，它将改变你看待当代艺术的方式。