Author: Louden, Sharon
Brand: Intellect (UK)
Number Of Pages: 224
Publisher: Intellect
Release Date: 15-10-2013
Details: Product Description In this day and age, when art has become more of a commodity and art school graduates are convinced that they can only make a living from their work by attaining gallery representation, it is more important than ever to show the reality of how a professional, contemporary artist sustains a creative practice over time. The 40 essays collected here in Living and Sustaining a Creative Life are written in the artists' own voices and take the form of narratives, statements and interviews. Each story is different and unique, but the common thread is an ongoing commitment to creativity, inside and outside the studio. Both day-to-day and Big Picture details are revealed, showing how it is possible to sustain a creative practice that contributes to the ongoing dialogue in contemporary art. These stories will inform and inspire any student, young artist and art enthusiast, and will help redefine what 'success' means to a professional artist. Review "A strikingly frank book that removes the veil of mysticism surrounding the artistic life."-- "Hyperallergic" "Anyone serious about a career as an artist must read this book." --Adam Sheffer, partner, Cheim and Read Gallery "CHOICE" "Contributions range from predictable to shocking, in-control and overwhelmed. Some artists have full-time jobs; many are parents. . . .[Louden is] telling it like it is." -- "ARTnews" "Extraordinary. . . . Louden has initiated a public discussion of how an artist can persist. It's an essential question in a field that no one chooses for its assurance of financial rewards. In many ways, Louden's book helps us to answer the question, 'How does an artist make a living today?' . . . Louden makes an important contribution to the discussion of how art is made now by the vast majority of artists at work. The book is a reality check prompting us to recall that invention doesn't happen without determination. As these artists' testimonies so vividly show, history, theory, and criticism are activities dependent ultimately on the hard-won production of art."-- "Art Journal" "From surprisingly frank sharings on the struggles of starting out as young artists to the challenges of making time and space for creation, the artists in Living and Sustaining a Creative Life share with candor and heart just what it takes to be an artist today." --Anne Pasternak, president and artistic director, Creative Time "CHOICE" "I applaud artist Sharon Louden for assembling this fascinating compilation of artist testimonies. It provides a refreshing, honest look at the myriad ways that artists shape and feed their lives and evolve authentic, generative practices in a society that does not always make it easy for artists to subsist and fully contribute. Living and Sustaining a Creative Life is thus an inspiring, unexpurgated resource for artists beginning their careers as well as any individual seeking to recalibrate his or her daily life to pursue a more purpose-filled existence." --Olga Viso, executive director, Walker Art Center "CHOICE" "Louden's book, Living and Sustaining a Creative Life, is a collection of short personal narratives of 40 female and male working artists, which unfold the everyday realities of balancing the need for being creative with the need for survival. Each story is presented as a small chapter starting with a photograph of a representative artwork. As a result, the book is both interesting to read and visually arresting. The book . . . contribute[s] to an understanding of who artists are and what their work entails."--Olga Viso, executive director, Walker Art Center "Work, Employment and Society" "Sharon Louden has gathered together in this book an exceptionally diverse range of artists' experiences in order to illustrate, in a manner otherwise inaccessible, the inherent tensions that artists face in constantly balancing their drive to devote core time and energy to creating new work and their wish to share that work with the world with
EAN: 9781783200122
Package Dimensions: 9.0 x 6.7 x 0.6 inches
Languages: English
Binding: Paperback
Item Condition: New