Written in an engaging, straightforward style by prominent art historian Matthew Israel, this book presents ten outstanding examples of contemporary art, each with significant historical or cultural relevance to contemporary art's big picture.

Drawn from the fields of photography, painting, performance, installation, video, film, and public art, the works featured here combine to create a bigger picture of the state of contemporary art today. From Andreas Gursky's large-scale color photograph Rhine II to Kara Walker's acclaimed installation in the Domino Sugar Factory in Brooklyn, each work is carefully explored within the larger perspective of its social and artistic milieu.

Articulate and insightful, this book offers readers the ability to consider each work in-depth, while also providing an easily digestible foundation from which to study the often challenging but continually fascinating world of 21st-century art.