The Hidden Mod in Modern Art

An investigation of the outsized influence of the Mod subculture on key figures of the 1960s London art scene Bonding over matters of taste and style, the "Mods" of late 1950s London recognized in one another shared affinities for Italian-style suits, short, tidy haircuts, and American jazz, among other pursuits. In this groundbreaking book, leading art historian Thomas Crow argues that the figure of the Mod exerted an influence beyond its social scene in ways that question academic mastery over popular life. Crow examines the works of key figures in the London art scene of the 1960s, including Robyn Denny, David Hockney, Pauline Boty, Bridget Riley, and Bruce McLean, who partook in a cognate ethos of sharp concision and alertness to the lived moment. Positing the aesthetics of counterculture as an inescapable component of the advanced British fine art of the later 1960s, this thoughtful book provides an up-to-date reckoning with the legacies of Situationism, Social Art History, and Cultural Studies.