Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980) is best known as a media theorist - many consider him the founder of media studies - but he was an important theorist of art, too. A near-household name for decades, McLuhan remains a fascinating and even cultish figure in art history. However, his connections with the art of his own time has been largely unexplored. Art historian Alex Kitnick delves into these rich connections and argues both that McLuhan was influenced by art and artists and, more interestingly, that McLuhan's work directly influenced the art and artists of his time. Kitnick builds the story of McLuhan's entanglement with artists by carefully forging connections between him, his theories, and the artists themselves. The story is packed with big names: Marcel Duchamp, Jasper Johns, Niki de Saint Phalle, Andy Warhol, Nam June Paik, and others. |