How can we understand the most contemporary art? “Ismos del Siglo XXI” seeks to answer this question by proposing a unique reader that brings together 27 essential texts from the most prestigious national and international authors. Organized around six themes, each preceded by a general introduction, this book posits the existence of new “isms” in contemporary art that call for analytical foundations and demand a public voice for artistic practice: archivism, activism, communitarianism, cosmopolitanism, indigenism, and ecologism.
Each of these movements reflects a rejection of formalism and a move away from what is strictly artistic; their innovations and proposals arise not only from individual creativity, but also from the need to construct theoretical frameworks coherent with reality. Furthermore, these movements position creativity closer to the ethical than to the aesthetic, borrowing tools from social or anthropological projects.
Starting from the artistic sphere as a site of thought and intervention interwoven with a wide range of theoretical references, authors such as Claire Bishop, Wolfgang Ernst, Helen Gilbert, Marsha Meskimmon, Nicholas Mirzoeff, Donna Haraway, Nicos Papastergiadis, Judith Butler, T. J. Demos, and Ernst van Alphen, among many others, guide us in understanding the complexity of 21st-century artistic proposals.
Julia Ramírez-Blanco 
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