- Published: 08/03/2012
- ISBN: 9781847086938
- Granta Books
- 304 pages
Seven Days In The Art World
Sarah Thornton
Contemporary art has become a mass entertainment, a luxury good, a job description and, for some, a kind of alternative religion. Sarah Thornton’s shrewd and entertaining fly-on-the-wall narrative takes us behind the scenes of the art world, from art school to auction house, showing us how it works, and giving us a vivid sense of being there.
£9.99
Parachutes the reader into the real nitty-gritty of how it all works - openings, dealers, artists, prizes, auctions et al. Reading this book is like having your own spy in the art world
Alan Yentob
A thorough insight into the contemporary art world through seven fascinating stories ... a must-have for all art buffs
Tatler
Curators and dealers provide the insider info and often the laughs, as the closed world of art is systematically demystified
Dazed and Confused
From the Same Author
33 Artists in 3 Acts
Sarah Thornton
Is being an artist a radical form of entrepreneurship or a vocational calling like the priesthood? Is it an extension of philosophy or an offshoot of entertainment?
In three richly interlinked but distinct ‘acts’ – Politics, Kinship and Craft – Sarah Thornton compares and contrasts answers to the simple but profound question: what is an artist?
33 Artists in 3 Acts draws on hundreds of personal encounters with the world’s most important artists, to ask what it means to be making artworks in different parts of the world today. With Thornton as expert guide and trusted insider, we have unprecedented access to the lives of the artists, from late-night Skype chats with Ai Weiwei to taxi rides with Maurizio Cattelan on the way to and from the show that announces his death. We join Thornton as she rummages through artists’ studios, homes and solo shows, inquiring about everything from their bank accounts to their bedrooms. The result is a series of cinematic experiences, which juxtapose artists in thought-provoking ways, and build up narratives that end with epiphanies.
33 Artists in 3 Acts is a generational touchstone, a powerful triptych and gripping anti-monograph about truth, integrity, credibility and recognition. Essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary art, this masterful act of storytelling will also delight any reader seeking to understand creative lives.
Sarah Thornton on Granta.com
Five Things Right Now | The Online Edition
Five Things Right Now: Sarah Thornton
Sarah Thornton
Sarah Thornton, author of 33 Artists, 3 Acts, shares five links of what she’s reading, watching and thinking about right now.
