Shopping : a century of art and consumer culture

Shopping signifies more than the pure purchasing of goods.

Strolling, looking at, choosing, buying and consuming goods have long been an essential part of urban life.

Shopping is an essential ritual of public life, creating and transforming identity.

Ever since Walter Benjamin's description of the flaneur in the Paris arcades, the complex interchanges between consumer culture and art have become an issue worthy of discussion.

This publication accompanies the exhibition at the Tate Liverpool from December 20th 2002- March 23rd 2003 and documents the fascination of fine artists, architects and film-makers with the increasingly sophisticated means of seduction in shop windows.

Extensive pictorial material serves to illustrate the interaction between art and the consumption of goods using works by Eugene Atget, Berenice Abbot, Walker Evans, Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg, Roy Lichtenstein, Christo, Duane Hanson, Barbara Kruger, Jeff Koons, Andreas Gursky, and many more.

The book is edited by Christoph Grunenberg, the curator of the Tate Liverpool and Max Hollein, and has contributions from internationally renowned authors.