Part of the acclaimed 'Documents of Contemporary Art' series of anthologies. This anthology explores ways in which the archive has become central in visual culture's investigations of history, memory, testimony and identity. Surveying the full diversity of our transformed theoretical and critical notions of the archive, as both idea and as physical presence, this publication includes writings by Sigmund Freud, Michel Foucault, Hal Foster and many others, and essays on the archival practice of such artists as Gerhard Richter, Susan Hiller, Ilya Kabakov, Christian Boltanski, Renee Green and The Atlas Group.

Author Biography

Charles Merewether is an art historian and writer on post-war and contemporary art. He has taught at universities in Mexico, Australia, Europe and North America. From 1994 to 2004 he was Collections Curator at the Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles. He was Artistic Director and Curator for the 2006 Sydney Biennale.