Interplay

Replacing the usual misnomer 'neo-geo,' Amy Brandt's 'neoconceptualism,' another period term for the 1980s-era art she investigates, focuses on a highly formal inversion of 1960s and '70s conceptual art, predicated on French poststructuralist theories and an awareness of late capitalist and emerging global economies. Her book provides a needed perspective on a highly important, yet far too little researched and understood period in the 1980s when high art, popular culture, commodification, and politics were inextricably linked together.

Robert Hobbs, The Rhoda Thalhimer Endowed Chair of American Art, Virginia Commonwealth University

Interplay is the definitive guide to the movement formerly known as neo-geo. Amy Brandt traces the development of neoconceptual art across the 1980s with a combination of critical rigor and pleasurable accessibility. Interplay is a must-read for anyone who cares about contemporary art and its history.

Richard Meyer, author of What Was Contemporary Art?

Brandt's study of 'neoconceptual art' has the benefit of hindsight, nudging now decades-past theoretical terms and artistic practices into new proximity. Her portrayal of the East Village 1980s art world posits that scene as uncannily prescient of today's, but also insists that critics missed plenty in their first assessments. Unexpectedly optimistic, *Interplay* argues that every 'movement' has consequences beyond its time.

Johanna Burton, Keith Haring Director and Curator of Education and Public Engagement, New Museum, New York; editor of Cindy Sherman

This book offers a wealth of information and ideas to anyone interested in the art of 1980s New York, and in particular in the East Village gallery scene, and the impact of French theory on both artists and critics. Brandt's judicious selection of artists on which to concentrate provides a thoughtful examination of a complex moment.

Michael Archer, Professor of Art, Goldsmiths, University of London; author of Jeff Koons: One Ball Total Equilibrium Tank

Brandt…provides a critical reevaluation (and renaming) of neoconceptual artists, typically called neo-geo, in New York City during the 1980s. By closely examining the work of Jeff Koons, Peter Halley, Philip Taafe, Haim Steinbach, Sherrie Levine, Ashley Bickerton, and many others, Brandt demolishes the Neo Geo pejorative (think bright colors and geometric forms) and arrives at a much more convincing and meaningful analysis based on the artists' theoretical underpinnings.

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