Appropriation, edited by David Evans, is one of a series documenting major themes and ideas in contemporary art.
Many influential artists today draw on a legacy of 'stealing' images and forms from other makers. The term appropriation is particularly associated with the 'Pictures' generation, centred on New York in the 1980s; this anthology provides a far wider context. Historically, it reappraises a diverse lineage of precedents – from the Dadaist readymade to Situationist détournement – while contemporary 'art after appropriation' is considered from multiple perspectives within a global context.
David Evans is the author of the catalogue raisonné John Heartfield: AIZ/VI 1930–38 (1992). He has contributed to international exhibitions on Heartfield and photomontage, and published numerous articles on the avant-garde, the Situationists, and appropriation strategies in contemporary art. He was a Research Fellow in Photography at the Arts Institute at Bournemouth.