A Critique of Alfred Gell on Art and Agency

This review article examines in detail the argument in Alfred Gell's posthumously published book Art and Agency: an anthropological theory. The review is divided into two parts. In the first I summarise the main argument of each chapter in turn and comment on some of the author's more questionable assumptions and conclusions. In the second I step back from the individual chapters and comment on three of the more general issues the book raises.