Today the art world is more of a world in every sense, with a larger population, a wider territory and a greater number of nationalities. Its prevailing conversation, however, has yet to catch up. Art Cities of the Future: 21st Century Avant-Gardes uncovers twelve distinct avant-gardes that have emerged around the world in recent decades. Twelve curators each selected eight artists to represent the avant-garde of a specific city. These artists are senior figures or newer faces, artists working in familiar mediums or inventing their own, but they all share two qualities: a commitment to experimental art and a dedication to their local milieu. In dialogue with larger concerns, their unique sensibility can be found nowhere else. Lively, thought-provoking, comprehensive, and packed with more than 500 images, this book widens the expected historical narrative, allowing us to imagine a future of diverse aesthetics and shared concerns in the common language of contemporary art.

This comprehensive volume covers the exciting and important contemporary art happening in each of these locations through selections made by curators intimately involved in each of the twelve cities