"Get The Picture": How a gonzo-style journalist managed to infiltrate the art world
We do love to read extensive academic papers on art movements, in-depth reviews of artworks and mesmerizing tributes on legendary artists’ careers, but did you ever imagine that you would love to read an “outsider’s” take on the art world?
Bianca Bosker, bestselling author and respected journalist, offered us the chance to do so. The gonzo-style explorationist Bianca, who has already proved that she can infiltrate exclusive circles with great success with her book Cork Dork, decided to immerse herself in the pulsating heart of another mysterious world, the contemporary art scene, mingling with gallerists, collectors, curators, and devoted artists.
Her new publication, “GET THE PICTURE: A Mind-Bending Journey among the Inspired Artists and Obsessive Art Fiends Who Taught Me How to See” will be available by February 4, 2024 but we had the opportunity to take a sneak peek earlier and we can now say that we were entertained and at the same time immersed and hooked to Bianca’s story-telling and raw presentation of what’s going on in galleries, museums, studios and art-fairs.
In fact her book is like a diary of her journey, trying to transform herself from an outsider to an informed insider, a part of the art community. Her adventures are divided in four different steps - and four different parts in her book. Starting as an assistant to a small gallery, then living her best life at art fairs, moving to assist a renowned artist in her studio and finally working in a museum, until she quit art ‘cold turkey’.
Bosker’s quest is fueled by her unstoppable curiosity, evident in her meticulous reporting and engaging writing style. The book that has already been acknowledged as "funny, whip-smart, and gorgeously written" by respected author Suleika Jaouad, is indeed such a pleasure for the reader and it might alternate how we see art and the art world too. Her experience shed light to inner workings, and the lifestyle of all the ‘players’ of the art scene, from A-list parties to panic attacks, obsessions, money and most of all passion for creation.
The most important element of the book though is that Bosker managed to investigate art from different angles and talk about art’s place in society, economy and also in people’s personal lives and she does so with a masterful balance between humor, wit, gossip, entertainment and seriousness, professionalism and engagement with heavy, important issues of art history and theory. This is a book that could be enjoyed by some random person that has never set foot in a museum or the curator of a big, established art gallery.
If you have any questions or interest to learn how the art scene evolves, how many different factors and people play their role to set things in motion and what toll it takes to be part of this world, you should get this book ASAP.
Read more, here.
Tags/ book, artist, museum, review, miami art fair, art gallery, art world
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