Disrupting Archaeology and Art: Excavation and Contemporary Painting

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Doug Bailey (San Francisco State University, USA) Simon Callery (Independent Scholar, UK)

Disrupting Archaeology and Art

Name: Disrupting Archaeology and Art
Price: 130 AUD
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ISBN: 9781350507517

Excavation and Contemporary Painting

Doug Bailey (San Francisco State University, USA), Simon Callery (Independent Scholar, UK)

$130

Hardback

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English

Bloomsbury Academic
25 June 2026

Painting & paintings; Installation art; Archaeology

There is a long history of interaction and collaboration between artist and archaeologist. However, recent provocative work in the field, studio, museum and gallery, has opened new possibilities for radical alliances and creations. Disrupting Archaeology and Art presents the work and conversation of an archaeologist and a contemporary painter who have moved into experimental territories beyond the traditional boundaries of their disciplines. This book presents detailed descriptions of six important works made by the authors.

Doug Bailey’s aim is to change the ways that archaeologists engage with the materials of the past. His montages, films, and performance destructions (such as Releasing the Archive) undermine traditionally unquestioned tenets of archaeological action and of the conservation and preservation of artefacts and ancient remains. In Disrupting Archaeology and Art, Bailey describes his reasoning and methods of making three of his more provocative works.

Simon Callery sets out to find new forms and functions for landscape-based painting. His contact paintings, pit paintings and large-scale sculptural work (Trench 10) produced in direct response to archaeological excavations in England and Wales, provoke significant debate over issues of time, image, and materiality. In Disrupting Archaeology and Art, Callery presents detailed accounts of how and why the excavation site has shaped his thinking and ambitions for contemporary painting.

This book is a conversation between two iconoclasts, placing a first-hand, makers’ views of the creative process, within a wider dialogue about how artists and archaeologists respond to their shared themes of originality, time, authorship and meaning.

By: Doug Bailey (San Francisco State University USA), Simon Callery (Independent Scholar, UK)
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 248mm, Width: 192mm, Spine: 18mm
Weight: 685g
ISBN: 9781350507517
ISBN 10: 1350507512
Pages: 176
Publication Date: 25 June 2026
Audience: Professional and scholarly , General/trade , Undergraduate , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Doug Bailey is Professor of Visual Archaeology at San Francisco State University, USA. He is the author of Prehistoric Figurines (2005), Unearthed (2010) and Breaking the Surface (2018). He has directed excavations in Bulgaria and Romania, and has curated exhibitions at the International Museum Contemporary Sculpture, Portugal (2020) and Carpintarias Saõ Lázaro, Portugal (2021). He is an established expert in the archaeology of art and the prehistoric archaeology of Europe. Simon Callery is an artist based in London, UK. He has exhibited internationally since the 1990s and has worked alongside field archaeologists since 1996. His work has been shown in the UK at the Saatchi Gallery, Royal Academy of Arts, Tate Britain, and the British Museum. Museum group shows include the following: Brooklyn Museum, New York; Zhejiang Art Museum, Hangzhou; Rudolfinum, Prague; and the Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome. Recent solo gallery shows include Lo Brutto Stahl (Paris), Unosunove (Rome), Rafael Perez Hernando (Madrid), and Annex 14 (Zurich).

Reviews for Disrupting Archaeology and Art: Excavation and Contemporary Painting

""This is a new and stimulating publication not only questioning what archaeology is about but, also how engagement with art can enhance our interpretation of the past and the future."" --Liliana Janik, Associate Professor in Archaeology and Heritage, University of Cambridge, UK ""This is a thought-provoking and inspiring book which presents a passionate case in support of the new cross-disciplinary area of art/archaeology. The authors' arguments are applied to case studies drawn from their own practice and research and drawn extensively on their considerable expertise in the fields of contemporary art, and archaeology. The result is a rich exploration of an exciting subject which challenges us to re-think the past, present, and future of archaeological thought, and which will be a key text for artists, archaeologists, and anyone else interested in exploring art/archaeology."" --Laurent Olivier, General Curator, National Museum of Archaeology, France ""Fascinating, challenging, wonderfully detailed, irreverent, Bailey and Callery open new domains for original modes of engagement, aesthetic experimentation, and imaginative research. The creative provocations that emerge through this exchange and fusion of art and archaeology will surprise, provoke, and inspire. This book is long overdue."" --Christopher Witmore, Professor in Archaeology and Classics, Texas Tech University, USA