Artist reads
The books you read can tell much about you, especially those you want to share. Here, I will tell you about four books I read this summer. They all are connected with my art practice and also help me better understand my internal processes and external reality.
"Impact of identity", Irina Nevzlin
I found this small book while surfing Amazon and eBay and looking for books about family narratives. I was attracted by the subheading "The power of knowing who you are." The author is Irina Nevzlin - an Israeli entrepreneur born in Russia. Her father is a billionaire, a Russian oligarch who renounced Russian citizenship in 2022. I have a similar soviet background to Irina. Also she knows a lot about being an immigrant as she lived and worked in different countries since 2003.
Why was this book important to me? In my opinion, Russians, especially those who have a soviet background, have infantilism as a part of their DNA. We, Russians, are masters of complaining and blaming somebody else for our fails. One of my personal goals is to become fully responsible for my life. That's why I appreciate the opinions of people who are in the same way and share their experiences. Irina writes about how knowing your roots can make you stronger and more responsible. She writes about how the immigrant experience can help one in this way, enforcing the active life position, openness, and resilience. Being rooted in your identity makes you more stable in the uncertain world. That resonated with some scientific proof. I found that time to be about a strong family narrative as a foundation for personal resilience.
The question I have after reading the book is about the difference and overlapping of identity and personality.
"Art and Fear", David Bayles and Ted Orland
This book was written by David Bayles and Ted Orland, both working artists. They reveal all the problems and questions artist face in their carrier. Their insights and implications are based on their personal experience.
This book would be ideal reading for those who decided to become and artist or for art students. Indeed, it is good in every stage of art carrier as there are a lot of fears all the way down the line. All artists challenge the fears of imperfection, lack of talent, rejection, poverty, wrong education.
Like a good psychotherapist the book tells you that it's normal to feel like this, and many others feel the same. What is good the book inspires (and give some practical recipes) you to chose your own attitude and your own way in art knowing that most artworks aren't made by geniuses like Mozart but by the similar humans. That means that managing fears is quite doable.
I'm grateful to the authors for sharing their observations!
"A Year in the Art World", Matthew Israel
I can call this book a travel guide for those who wants to know more about the art world. As an artist I felt like I have a map with a legend. Matthew Israel is a curator, writer, and art historian and the book is a truly insider's view.
All the layers are exposed: artists, fabricators, galleries, museums, biennales, art fairs, art writers, curators, art schools, online platforms, art advisors, auctions, storages, and shipping companies. What makes this book to be extraordinary is that each segment is represented by real persons. Israel talks to art professionals and names them. That made me crazy as now I know the names of art advisors and fabricators who work close to me in California. Also, I understand the situation with art education in the USA better, as an MFA is a cornerstone in the artistic career, despite it costs hundreds of thousands. I was touched by the story of the Bruce High Quality Foundation (BHQF). That was an attempt to create an alternative and affordable educational program for artists. A great initiative that failed while facing funding challenges.
This book was a gift for me as, being new in the country, I needed an induction into the art sphere in the USA.
Also, I want to mention that the "art world" in this book means the world of big artists, big fairs, and big sales in the auctions. It says nothing about the world of emergency and even mid carrier artists. However, this book is worth reading as it's good to know the rules of the big world, making your small steps towards your personal success and realization as an artist.
"Seven logics of sculpture", Ernst van Alphen
I would lie if I told you that I read this book this summer. It appeared in my library last November and has become the book I read regularly since then. The book's structure is a matrix of topics and sculptors. Althen defined seven areas (logics) of sculpture: body, scenic sculpture, space, modular blocks, assemblage, architectural sculpture, and specific objects.
Each area is exposed through the essays about certain sculptors. For example, my favorite part about modular sculpture is represented by Per Kirkeby, Saloua Raouda Choucair, Marien Schouten, Didier Vermeiren, Ann Veronica Janssens, and Lygia Clark.
I open this book regularly to read and re-read about one of the logics or a certain sculptor. Moreover, I work with the book as a point of start to make a deeper research of the practice of the sculptor.
My connection with the book is a strong one. I hear the author very well and his logic resonates with me. I think, that happened due to the personality of the author. Ernst van Alphen is a professor of literary studies at Leiden University, the Netherlands as well as professor of rhetoric at the University of California, Berkeley. His main research interests visual and cultural studies, trauma and affect studies, and gender studies. He writes a lot about contemporary art and literature.
I keep reading and plan to tell you about more books from my library. If you want to know more about the books from this post, I will be happy to tell more. You can comment here or e-mail me at ndrachinskaya@gmail.com
