Markets and Cultural Voices: Liberty vs. Power in the Lives of Mexican Amate Painters

By Tyler Cowen

Book Overview

This intriguing work explores the world of three amate artists. A native tradition, all of their painting is done in Mexico, yet, the finished product is sold almost exclusively to wealthy American art buyers. Cowen examines this cultural interaction between Mexico and the United States to see how globalization shapes the lives and the work of the artists and their families. The story of these three artists reveals that this exchange simultaneously creates economic opportunities for the artists, but has detrimental effects on the village. A view of the daily village life of three artists connected to the larger art world, this book should be of particular interest to those in the fields of cultural economics, Latino studies, economic anthropology and globalization.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 047206889X
• ISBN13: 9780472068890
• Release Date: April 2005
• Publisher: University of Michigan Press
• Length: 202 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.4" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Essential Reading for Collectors of Outsider Art

If you collect amate art this book is essential. For collectors of outsider art Professor Cowan provides an economic and cultural insight into the motives of the artists and the integral role they play in the culture. Highly readable, with wonderful anecdotes, what could be a dry subject is transformed into a page-turner.