Field manoeuvres: Bourdieu and the Young British Artists

Description/Abstract

This article offers an empirical study of the field of contemporary British art in the 1990s. It considers the nature of this field as an artistic avant-garde and discusses Bourdieu’s theory of art production. The Young British Artists (yBas) are studied through three distinct levels of analyse derived from Bourdieu’s methodology and theory of practice. Issues of habitus and field structure are highlighted in order to examine the processes and operations of the artistic avant-garde. The article also briefly addresses the products of this field through issues of style and technique and offers some reflections on this sociological approach to art.