33 Artists in 3 Acts

by Sarah Thornton Narrated by Tavia Gilbert

Overview

33 Artists in 3 Acts offers unprecedented access to a dazzling range of artists, from international superstars to unheralded art teachers. Sarah Thornton's beautifully paced, fly-on-the-wall narratives include visits with Ai Weiwei before and after his imprisonment and Jeff Koons as he woos new customers in London, Frankfurt, and Abu Dhabi. She meets Yayoi Kusama in her studio around the corner from the Tokyo asylum that she calls home. She snoops in Cindy Sherman's closet, hears about Andrea Fraser's psychotherapist, and spends quality time with Laurie Simmons, Carroll Dunham, and their daughters Lena and Grace.



Through these intimate scenes, 33 Artists in 3 Acts explores what it means to be a real artist in the real world. Divided into three cinematic "acts"-politics, kinship, and craft-it investigates artists' psyches, personas, politics, and social networks. Witnessing their crises and triumphs, Thornton turns a wry, analytical eye on their different answers-and non-answers-to the question, "What is an artist?"

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

★ 08/04/2014
Thornton (Seven Days in the Art World) paints a masterful picture of 33 artists, keenly bringing details of their lives to the surface with a skilled hand and without overwhelming the reader. The product of four years of work, the book is divided into its eponymous three acts; each chapter, or “scene,” focuses on one artist, with artists sometimes appearing in multiple “scenes.” The activist Chinese artist, Ai Weiwei, receives much favorable attention; one notable chapter takes place in the wake of his arrest at the hands of Chinese government authorities. Married American artists Caroll Dunham and Laurie Simmons are surveyed together, then separately, in multiple chapters, with Thornton exploring their artistic relationships and the gender dynamics therein. Thornton builds on such analyses to offer astute, accessible commentary on the gendered dimensions of modern art. With effortless sophistication, Thornton takes readers on a journey across the globe and into the homes and minds of contemporary artists. In the process, she banishes cynicism about modern art, revealing it to be a volatile, healthy enterprise still deeply engaged with the world. 44 illus. Agent: Sarah Chalfant, the Wylie Agency. (Nov.)

Washington Post

"[T]he Jane Goodall of the art world"

Booklist, Starred Review - Donna Seaman

"[A]n invaluable, incisive, and exciting guide to today's deliriously diverse, sophisticated, scandalous, and profound art world."

Globe and Mail

"Another art world page turner."

Monocle

"Thornton nails some wonderful portraits of the people that, well, do wonderful portraits. These characters are no longer creators of icons but icons themselves and Thornton is in the front pew—but taking notes, not praying at all."

San Francisco Chronicle

"Will startle even art-world insiders."

The Guardian

"A vivid and entertaining read…Thornton meets some interesting artists and her direction can be playful. Her interviews with Andrea Fraser stand out, as do all her meetings with Ai Weiwei."

Los Angeles Times - Carolina A. Miranda

"Inspiring—as unique as each of the artists featured."

New York Magazine - Boris Kachka

"[Thornton's] interviews, interwoven to show conjunctions and contrasts, cohere into a strong three-part whole—first politics, then kinship, and finally, a readable interrogation of what's so often overlooked: craft."

The New Statesman

"Engaging and ingenious."

Financial Times

"Writing with verve, insight and authenticity…Thornton's method is to let her hubristic subjects hang themselves by their own nooses. She is skillfully nuanced on the artist Christian Marclay."

Christian Science Monitor - Kevin O’Kelly

"A readable, approachable introduction to the rock stars of [contemporary art] and their work."

The Bookseller

"How can one be a real artist in the real world? Thornton sets off to find out, meeting and debating with many of the most important artists around the globe. Credibility, integrity, legitimacy, recognition and truth in art are all tackled here. While the basis of the book is contemporary art, the themes are of universal interest."

From the Publisher

"With effortless sophistication, Thornton takes readers on a journey across the globe and into the homes and minds of contemporary artists." ---Publishers Weekly Starred Review

From the Publisher - AUDIO COMMENTARY

"With effortless sophistication, Thornton takes readers on a journey across the globe and into the homes and minds of contemporary artists." —Publishers Weekly Starred Review

DECEMBER 2014 - AudioFile

What has art become in the twenty-first century? What’s it for? What’s an artist? When do the ideals of self-expression and the necessities of self-promotion cross paths? With energy and enthusiasm narrator Tavia Gilbert fills the roles of both critic and confidante while narrating this detailed and personalized look at the lives of 33 artists who live and work in the globe-trotting contemporary art world of gallery openings, patrons, biennales, and money. Plenty of money. Gilbert’s delivery perfectly reflects the author’s dual reaction of admiration and ambivalence toward the art installations and the artists who create the works (sometimes with the help of dozens of assistants) for what has become a multibillion dollar worldwide industry. B.P. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170979417
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	11/18/2014
Edition description:	Unabridged

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