Playing to the Gallery by Grayson Perry


Playing to the Gallery
Title : Playing to the Gallery
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 184614857X
ISBN-10 : 9781846148576
Language : English
Format Type : Hardcover
Number of Pages : 135
Publication : First published January 1, 2014

Grayson Perry’s book will overturn everything you thought you knew about “art”

Now Grayson Perry is a fully paid-up member of the art establishment, he wants to show that any of us can appreciate art (after all, there is a reason he’s called this book Playing to the Gallery and not Sucking Up to the Academic Elite). This funny, personal journey through the art world answers the basic questions that might occur to us in an art gallery but that we’re too embarrassed to ask. Questions such as: What is “good” or “bad” art—and does it even matter? Is art still capable of shocking us or have we seen it all before? And what happens if you place apiece of art in a rubbish dump?

Playing to the Gallery Reviews

  • HAMiD

    در گذشته عاشق خرد بودند؛ امروزه عاشق فیلسوف هستند. سورن کیرکه گارد

    فیس بوک که درآمد می شود گفت صدی نودونُه نفرمان طراح و گرافیست بودیم. شاعر هم و البته منتقد ادبی و هنری و سینماگر. بعدترش که قافله رسید به اینستاگرام و باقی جریان ها و نهضت های اینترنتی شدیم هنرمند، اصیل و به قاعده و البته درک نشده. این میانه ها برخی از رفقایم هم شدند تحلیل گر مسایل منطقه و جهان. حالا گاهی(یعنی همیشه) من هم خیال برم داشته که در گودریدز علیهما سلام، صیت سخنم که در بسیط زمین رفته و قصب الجیب حدیثم که همچون شکر می خورند و رقعه منشآتم را چون کاغذ زر می برند*. خلاصه عالم هنر هم یک همچو فضاهایی دارد برای خودش. متر و عیار چیست؟ اگر اصلن معیاری در کار باشد. در کتاب یک موشکافی هایی در اینها هست که گاهی بسیار خوشایندند. اگرچه از حق نگذریم گاهی هیچ چیز اندازه ی یک گالری گردی مفصل و قهوه و اگر مایل باشی سیگار بعدش نمی چسبد بس که جان حظ کرده از آنچه که دیده. مثلن همان نمایشگاه علی اکبر خان صادقی در هنرهای معاصر. یادش خوش که عصرگاهِ مفصلی داشتیم. یادت که هست

    * از دیباچه ی گلستان به امانت برده ام

    1398/03/10

  • Caroline

    I am a Grayson Perry fan on various counts... his work as an artist, his role as commentator on the contemporary art scene, and I love the joy and humour in the dresses and wonderful shoes he so often wears. ♥


    Grayson Perry: photograph by Richard Ansett 2013.
    Photograph by Richard Ansett, 2013.


    Grayson Perry. Comfort Blanket.
    Grayson Perry - Comfort Blanket.


    Grayson Perry. The Ashford Hijab.
    Grayson Perry - The Ashford Hijab

    This book - a commentary on contemporary art and what it means - has received outstanding praise from all quarters. For me though, there were a few ideas that I couldn't get my head around. This may be because it was a bedtime read, and I didn't have the energy to battle them out. All in all I preferred his Reith Lectures on the same subject (You Tube links given below.)

    There were however parts of the book that I thoroughly enjoyed, and herewith some extracts that I found particularly interesting or funny.

    Beauty

    Proust said something to the effect that 'we only see beauty when we're looking through an ornate gold frame'. What he meant was that our idea of what is beautiful is entirely conditioned: things we regard as beautiful do not possess some innate quality of beauty, we have just become used to regarding something as beautiful through exposure and reinforcement. Beauty is very much about familiarity, reinforcing an idea we have already. It's a constructed thing built up on shifting layers. We can make something a touch more beautiful just by the very act of exclaiming to a friend, 'Wow, that is beautiful!' Or when we go on holiday and all we really want to do is take the photograph that we've seen in the brochure..... Family, friends, education, nationality, race, religion and politics - all these things help shape our idea of beauty


    What is art?

    And since the 1060s, really, truly anything has been declared as an artwork. Piero Manzoni famously canned his own faeces and sold them by weight for the price of gold. He also made a piece called The Base of the world where he put a huge metal plinth in the middle of a field and turd it upside down, therefore rendering the entire globe as his artwork. Artists have made art of their own bodies and other people's, walking, sleeping, shooting themselves, getting sunburnt, the landscape, light, film, video.....


    Grayson pic 111


    Tests on the boundaries of art

    * Is it in a gallery or an art context?

    Now Duchamp's urinal, he could have left it plumbed in - but, no, he brought it into the gallery....and put it on a plinth... This is art context, it can be quite a powerful thing, but it can also be quite a lame excuse for an artwork. If I got the loveliest car in the world, a beautiful vintage Ferrari, and I put it into an art gallery and said 'This is a work of art now,' it would be quite a lame work of art. It would be a lovely car, but quite a lame work of art. This happens a lot in the art world - it's what I call borrowed importance.

    * Is it made by an artist?

    Art historian Ernst Gombrich said, 'There is no such thing as art, only artists.' So you have to be an artist to make art.

    * Photography. Problematic.

    In the 1990s every second show seemed to be photography, but how do you tell if a photographs is art? In the 1990s you could tell it was art photography because no one was smiling and they often had a stagey portentousness. But the main reason you could tell these photographs were art was that they were huge. Their size made them look more like paintings and less like snaps or photojournalism.

    We live in an age when photography rains on us like sewage from above. So how do you tell if a photo's art? Well, you could probably still just see if they're smiling. If they're smiling, it's probably not art. And you could also ask, is there a lot of meaning emanating from this image?

    I asked Martin Parr, the very famous and brilliant photographer, if he could give me a definition of an art photo as opposed to another kind of photo. And, almost in jest, he said, 'Well, if it's bigger than two metres and it's priced higher than five figures.'

    * The limited edition test.

    The reason Andreas Gursky's photograph made $4.5 million is that it's an edition of five and the others were already in museum collections and so would never be available. This was the only one left on the private market and that's why it made such a high price, and that is an example exactly of how the limited-edition factor works.

    * The handbag-and-hipster test.

    Quite often you can't tell if something is a work of art apart from the fact that people are standing around it and looking at it. If there are lots of people with beards and glasses and single-speed bikes, or oligarchs' wives with great big handbags looking a bit perturbed and puzzled by what they're staring at, then it's probably art. People often say that art belongs to privileged people who've got a good education or a lot of money, and so if those people are starting at it, there's quite a high chance that it's art.

    The other thing you might look for is a queue because people nowadays, they love queuing for art, especially participatory art - the art that kids can crawl around, or you can take an Instagram of yourself in front of. There's a need for spectacle, public spectacle. I call that 'Theme Park plus Sudoku.'

    Novelty

    The Cave of Forgotten Dreams is a marvellous film all about the 30,000-year-old art in the Chauvet Cave in the south of France. In the film, one of the archaeologists is looking at one of the walls and it has these two overlapping drawings - in charcoal - of horses. And she says 'You know, these look like they could have been done by a person on the same day. They're in the same style. But when we carbon-dated these drawings, they were 5,000 years apart.' And yet they looked almost identical....

    Now, artworks seem to go out of date faster than a celebrity tattoo.

    The world of art seems to be strongly associated with novelty. The mainstream media, with its addiction to news values, seems particularly drawn to the idea of there being an avant-garde. Work is always 'cutting edge', artists are 'radical', shows are 'mould-breaking', ideas are 'ground-breaking', 'game-changing', 'revolutionary', a 'new paradigm' is forever being set.

    But I, and some other commentators in the art world, think that we have reached the final state of art. Not an endgame, I don't mean it's all over. I mean we're in a state of omnidirectional experimentation. Anything can be art now. We're really agreed on that today....

    That doesn't mean there won't be new, exciting art that's made. But it does mean that the idea of an artwork falling outside the boundaries of what art can be isn't going to happen any more.....

    I don't believe there is an avant-garde any more. There are just multiple sites all over the world at different levels, in different places, using different media for experimentation, and we live in this globalized, pluralistic art world with a lot of money sloshing around it it, and it's as varied as we are. Most of it is rubbish, but that was ever thus, and some of it is absolutely amazing.


    I think lots of people will relish this book with gusto, and my occasional stumblings with it should not put anyone off.

    --------------------------

    The 4 Reith Lectures.


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtehJ...


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Or4Z...


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bNVD...


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVZR_...

  • Zoha Mortazavi

    از این به بعد اگر کسی که هیچ و مطلقا هیچ سررشته‌ای از زیبایی‌شناسی و فلسفه هنر نداشته باشد از من بپرسد «هنر چیست؟ چرا هنر مدرن این شکلی است؟ چرا این نقاشی ها اینقدر در مزایده ها با قیمت بالا به فروش می‌روند؟ و...»، احتمالا این کتاب را بهش معرفی بکنم. ساده و سر راست، رک و پوست کنده و مهم‌تر از همه برای من، بامزه است. صحبت کردن درمورد ارزش هنر بدون اینکه مقهور رموز آن بشویم؟ چرا که نه! به اضافه، یک تعداد تصویرسازی خیلی بانمک در راستای صحبتهای دارد که من عاشقشان شدم!
    گریسن یکجا نقل میکند که ازش پرسیده‌اند «آیا تو یک شخصیت دوست داشتنی هستی، یا یک هنرمند جدی؟» در جواب گفته: «چرا نمی‌توانم هر دو باشم؟»
    کتابش هم همین جوری، «هردو» است. (ایضا فراموش نکنیم که چقدر گریسن پری هنرمند مهمی است خودش. من که همیشه خیلی دوستش داشته‌ام و دارم)

  • Maryna Ponomaryova

    Це коротка книга, але насичена важливими питаннями і відповідями про сучасне мистецтво.
    Якщо твір упаде в лісі, і його ніхто не побачить, чи можна вважати це твором мистецтва?
    Як оцінюється твір? Як визначається вартість? Кого взагалі слухати? Що є твором мистецтва зараз? Як стати митцем?
    Тут багато гумору, прикладів, чесності і любові до цієї незрозумілої і прекрасної речі - м��стецтва. Однозначну раджу.

  • Sina Tahmasbi

    "در این کتاب تناقض ها وادا اطوار های دنیای هنر را به سخره گرفته ام"
    نویسنده خیلی شیرین کلیت کتاب رو تو یه خط میگه
    از پنج فصل تشکیل شده:
    1_چقدر؟!
    2_دموکراسی بد سلیقه است
    3_شلاق و مرز
    4_عصیانگر عزیز خوش آمدید
    5_در دنیای هنر خودم را پیدا کردم
    بخش دو،سه و پنج برای من جذاب تر بودن
    نویسنده ‌تو فصل دو توضیح میده که مجموعه دارها،منتقدان،نمایشگاه گردان ها،دلال ها ودر آخر مردم!چه تاثیری رو ارزش(بخوانید قیمت) یه اثر هنری میزارن.
    و یه توضیح جالب داره این بخش که میگه ما یه چیزی به اسم "زبان انگلیسی بین المللی هنر" داریم که از دهه ی ۶۰ تبدیل به زبان جدیت شده و برای پیچیده تر جلوه دادن اثر هنری به کار برده میشه به عبارتی هرچقد غیر قابل فهم تر و پیچیده تر صحبت کنی اثر هنریت یا نقدت حرفه ای تر و جدی تر نشون میده!
    بخش سه در واقع میخواد بگه که میتونیم به چه چیزی بگیم هنر (هر چند آقای دوشان کار رو راحت کرده)و بعضی آزمون های‌نویسنده برای تعیین این موضوع خیلی جالب و طعنه‌انگیزه:
    "خیلی وقت ها تا عده ای دور چیزی جمع نشوندو به آن نگاه نکنند،به هنر بودن آن پی نمیبریم.اگر یک عالمه عینکی ریشو(هیپی ها)با دوچرخه های معمولی یا همسران گروه حاکم مملکت با کیف های بزرگ شیک_کمی گیج و معذب_به چیزی زل زده باشند.آن چیز احتمالا یک اثر هنریست.مردم معمولا معتقدند هنر متعلق به افراد ممتاز و تحصیل کرده و یا ثروتمند است،بنابراین اگر چنین کسانی به چیزی زل بزننداحتمالا آن چیز یک اثر هنریست"
    و دربخش پنج گریسن پری توضیح میده که چجوری وارد دنیای هنر شده که اینجا میتونه همذات پنداری بکنه با خیلی از ماهایی که جمله ی:درستو بخون هنرم کنارش ادامه بده رو شنیدیم‌.
    در کل کتاب جمع و جور و خلاصه ایه که دید خوبی از به اصطلاح بازار هنر به ما میده.

  • Talie

    طراحی هایش را دوست دارم

  • Olha

    ✨ 4,5 ⭐ з 5-ти.

    "Не бійтесь галерей" Ґрейсона Перрі - це книга для всіх, хто коли-небудь заходив у галерею і думав, чому ця ��артина, інсталяція чи інший витвір мистецтва тут опинились. Мистецтво має бути красивим чи значущим? Що зараз популярно робити у світі мистецтва? Як добитися того, аби робота потрапила у галерею? Чи варто взагалі ставати собі це за ціль?

    🎨 Книга тоненька (трохи більше ста сторінок), тож багато часу не забере. Зато цікавої інформації дасть немало. Ще тут буде багато про те, чому бути митцем зовсім нелегко і що перші роки, а то і десятки років навряд на цьому сильно заробиш.

    🎨 У телеграмі я ще викладала кілька цитат з книги. Сподобалось, як Ґрейсон Перрі писав, що оцінювати щось за естетичними критеріями зараз не варто, тому що у нашого розуміння краси ноги ростуть з сексизму, расизму і так далі. Та й красиве ми часто вважаємо красивим, бо нам казали, що "оце - красиво" чи воно нам просто знайоме. І в галереях нам не обов'язково мусить усе подобатись.

    🎨 Цікаво пише і про роботу митців і мисткинь, що не варто таким людям казати "твій витвір мистецтва схожий на.." і що часто смаки публіки - ніж у серце митців.

    🎨 Дуже раджу цю книгу всім. Легко, цікаво і з гумором про галереї та мистецтво загалом. Хоча мені хотілось би ще більше прочитати на цю тему, тому книги трошечки не вистачило. В деяких моментах було сумбурною, тож я до кінця і не зрозуміла, які ж конкретно критерії хорошого мистецтва. Хоча, не впевнена, що такі існують.

  • Augustine

    "An artwork is a candidate for contemplation or appreciation" ~ George Dickie (philosopher)

    "Art is expressing one's universal wound - the wound of living a finite life of incomplete meanings" ~ Raymond Tallis (clinical neuroscientist)

    "The metaphor that best describes what it's like for my practice as an artist is that of a refuge, a place inside my head where I can go on my own and process the world and its complexities. It's an inner shed in which I can lose myself." ~ Grayson Perry

    I don't know what's wrong with me I sort of teared up near the end.
    I have to admit, 40% of the time I have no idea what he's talking about, but I can feel the genuine sincerity the author put into his words. It was definitely interesting, just stick with it even through all the "grandiloquently opaque" art language and concepts.
    Although it might not give you a certain, resolute answer to all your questions, the book gives a lot to think about.

  • Ralu

    (3,5) Joc si joacă a la Perry.
    Nu, cartea nu a schimbat tot ce stiam despre arta contemporana (presupun, asadar, ca stiam multe😅), dar a punctat succint cateva aspecte, cred eu, importante (desi nu am fost intru totul de acord cu el).

    - validarea unei opere de arta se face in mai multi pasi 1) colegii de breasla 2) criticii seriosi 3) colectionarii si dealerii 4) curatorii 5) publicul ( cel mai putin important din ecuatie).
    - exista o Engleza Internationala a Artei (EIA) lansata prin anii ‘60 si folosita pentru cronici, un soi de limba suprema a seriozitatii si pretentiozitatii, care aduce plus valoare operei de arta.
    - pop-artul era despre ideea de consumerism, azi multi artisti il imbratiseaza, operele devenind bunuri de larg consum.
    - daca vrei sa insulti un artist ii spui face to face ca “opera ta imi aminteste de..” sau in cronici ca opera lui e decorativa. 😈
    -lumea artei contemp e asociata cu noul- lucrarile sunt distrugatoare de traditii, artistii, radicali, ideile sunt inovatoare/revolutionare/ reformatoare
    -arta a ajuns dpdv formal intr-un stadiu final pentru ca azi orice poate fi arta si pentru ca s-a experimentat cam totul deja.
    - paradoxal tocmai rebelii creativi incurajeaza capitalismul pentru care ideile noi sunt vitale (desi ei se vad alternativa sistemului-in genul protestatarilor Occupy)
    -lumea artei- model perfect de neoliberalism
    -a fi vestic e un handicap pentru credibilitatea in zona operelor cu mesaj politic
    - internetul creeaza falsa iluzie ca oricine e artist- toti vor fi producatori de continut si ne vor ineca intr-o mare de mediocritate
    - isme-le sec 21 sunt pluralismul, globalismul, comercialismul siii.. nepotismul ( desi mai vechi).
    - nu mai exista avangarda
    - arta performativa e, dar nu prea e
    - Duchamp a fost cam arogant.

    Cartea are si un capitolas dededicat siesi, plus cateva paranteze in celelalte capitole cu privire la cariera lui, care nu m-au interesat prea tare.

    Ps. Am citit editia in lb romana- confuzat nu e un cuvant existent in dex, ci mai degraba un soi de termen de fb, asa ca, pe viitor, poate ar fi mai ok sa nu fie folosit taman pe coperta.
    In lb romana forma accentuata corecta a substantivului idee este ideea, nu idea. Merci.

  • Simon

    Thank goodness for Grayson Perry. A cheerful, authoritative voice speaking sense and allowing a keen (but limited in knowledge and understanding of the visual arts) observer like myself to get an up to date picture of the contemporary art world. I first encountered these ideas on his Reith Lectures (BBC Radio 4). (For a few weeks I arranged meetings and work schedules to allow me to be driving while these were on.) He's the first person since the late Robert Hughes to make me feel comfortable in my current knowledge and hungry and equipped for further acquisition (of knowledge). He's also a good deal funnier than Hughes and has the advantage of being a practicing artist rather than a respected critic.

    140 pages that would satisfy Lord Reith on both points: entertaining and informative. (And a little bit provocative!)

  • Yuliia Koshyk

    А ви боїтесь галерей?
    ⠀
    Ґрейсон Перрі в книзі від @art.huss запевняє: боятися немає чого. В своїй книзі він проведе вас лабіринтом мистецтва.

    Читати цю книгу - це як блукати стежкою, яка веде від іронічно-са��кастичних випадів в сторону сучасного мистецтва в перших розділах до глибокої потужної ідеї про те, що мистецтво - це наша внутрішня історія, наш біль, емоції і досвід.
    ⠀
    Книга написана в легкій гумористичній манері, але порушує важливі і цікаві мистецькі запитання:
    ⠀
    ✨Що таке мистецтво? Яким чином те, що ми бачимо, в галереях туди потрапило?
    ⠀
    ✨В чому різниця між концептуальним та партисипативним мистецтвом? (Не бійтесь, все доступно і дотепно)
    ⠀
    ✨Де проходять межі мистецтва? Чи стає предмет мистецтвом лише тому, що ми його так називаємо?
    ⠀
    Перрі проведе короткий екскурс в історію мистецтва, розповість про три пануючих сьогодні "ізми": глобалізм, комерціалізм та плюралізм. І поступово приводить до цікавого і важливого для всіх висновку: сучасним митцям залишився один спосіб шокувати - бути щирим.
    ⠀
    Виклад книги - легкий, доступний, з домішками іронії, сарказму. Текст насичений прикладами, цитатами, дотепними ілюстраціями. Наприклад, чого вартий лише тест на мистецтво:🗨 "помістіть витвір мистецтва на купу сміття і якщо перехожий зупиниться і запитає, чому твір мистецтва викинули - перевірку пройдено".🗨
    ⠀
    Мені, людині далекій від мистецтва, було читати надзвичайно цікаво! І справді деякі речі стали більш зрозумілими.

    Останній розділ - дуже особистіcний, як на мене. Він про шлях митця, про внутрішні складнощі, про вибір. Ця частина особливо цікавою буде тим, хто мріє стати частиною мистецтва і вагається.
    ⠀

  • Ihor

    Чудова книга, що трохи припіднімає ширму (шматок затертого поліетилену, важкий гобелен, спідницю трансвеститів чи що там ще може висіти над сучасним мистецтвом :) й показує чим зараз живе й переймається мистецький бомонд. Ну або чим він переймався на час написання книги автором. В західному світі. Із західними цінностями. Ну й так далі. Варто читати, щоб врешті перестати мислити про мистецтво категоріями епохи Відродження.

  • E.P. Rose

    Grayson Perry talks about art and the art world with a love and lack of pretension that is inspiring, informative and very funny.

  • 🌶 peppersocks 🧦

    Reflections and lessons learned:
    “Are you a lover of character or are you a serious artist?… Can’t I be both?!”

    For me this is Perry at his most interesting - demonstrating his love and knowledge of his field in a casual and relatable delivery whilst being held as a leader within the specialty. A clever 4 part set of lectures with different audiences, locations and topics each time

    1 Democracy has bad taste
    I love the Tate Modern and turbine hall so to listen to this as we’re starting to make post pandemic plans is quite blissful! A very important element raised within this one of the feeling of needing to buy into the language of the elite to discuss art… what is the validation criteria? And then the question from Will Self…

    “…you don’t have to like it all…”

    2 What are the boundaries of art?
    Is it not the aim to avoid being confined? Am I producing art with Instagram snaps?! So many clever theories and the place of technology with access to images, which I was checking out whilst listening

    “I can appreciate the intellectual bag but I’m still looking for the thing in the bag”

    3 Have we reached the final stage of the cutting edge of art?
    Art shouldn’t always be shocking and doesn’t help the cause. Is a cgi movie art?

    4 Becoming an artist I found myself in the art world
    Art is serious play for adults with more of a knowing purpose, but the noise of Lego being jostled together is the sound of a childhood built with imagination.

    “What do artists do? They notice things…”

    Overall this had numerous mentions of other admired works and insightful questions from the audience - I’m now interested to listen to more Reith debates

  • Stewart Tame

    I honestly had never heard of Grayson Perry before. The cover caught my attention, and the subject sounded interesting, so I decided to give it a go. I’m mildly intrigued by the brief references to his own art that he makes during the course of the book--the references, I mean, though I'm sure he made art as well. Anyway, I’ll be keeping an eye out for more of his work, prose or otherwise.

    So what this is is a book that attempts to demystify the art world. Over the last hundred years or so, Art with a capital “A” has gone in some increasingly bizarre directions, as has, necessarily, the language used by critics. Perry wrote this book, “Based on his hugely popular Reith Lectures,” as a sort of Art Appreciation 101 for the average person. Some of his references to art history may be lost on those not already familiar with it, but he generally makes his points with good humor and fairly clear explanations. He takes a friendly, chatty approach to the topic which I found very refreshing. This was a short but enjoyable book. Recommended!

  • Jo

    accessible and funny commentary on the art world!

  • Tien

    This book let me dive back into the contemporary art world for a hot minute.

  • Simon Puglisi

    Loved this brilliant, intelligent, and hilarious tour of art, artistic life, and the art world, by Turner-Prize-winning artist, Grayson Perry (who is everywhere these days). The book is based heavily on Perry's 2013 Reith Lectures (
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03969vt), which are well worth a listen too, and might even be preferred over this book, for the subtleties in Perry's extremely amusing live performance.

  • Liselott

    Reading this little, but higly informational book with its funny illustrations,felt like I have just had a good chat over a coffee with Grayson Perry himself. Brilliant, without any need of International Art English other than explaining its origin and a good example of how you get the metaphysical seasickness from reading that sort of text.

  • Stephen Sharkey

    Extraordinarily fun. Invaluable insider's take on the weird world of contemporary art.

  • Oliver

    *Book Club April May Pick*

    I had never heard of Grayson Perry before someone in my book club selected this for April (and then got postponed to May because April was a terribly hectic month at work for all of us). I drew and painted a fair bit in high school and dabbled in film photography for a semester in university, but I still don't think I was the target audience for this book. Specifically, it felt like this book was written for people who want to enter the "art world," or at the very least, understand its workings. I visit the occasional art museum, but nowadays the only kind of art I pay much attention to is participatory art ("The art that kids can crawl around." Becoming a dad will do that to you).

    I want to say that's why I didn't like the book all that much, but I honestly don't think it offers all that much even for art folks. Is it funny? His playful jabs and quips are only moderately amusing. Is he giving valuable advice to those self-conscious art students he mentions so often? Perry says the take-away of the book is that "anybody can enjoy art and anybody can have a life in the arts," which is far from profound; and his advice doesn't go beyond: 1. Go to art school. 2. "Originality takes time. Carving out a career takes time," and 3. "If somebody offers you some little exhibition or a small part in a group show or any tiny opportunity, you take it."

    So then it must have been Perry's drawing from his own personal experiences, right? Except that I don't think he really did that either. I still know barely anything about him, other than he wears dresses and makes pottery (which is the first thing you learn when you google him).

    For that reason, I preferred the first half-ish of the book, which deals largely with the questions "What is art?" and "What is quality, how might we judge it, whose opinion counts, and does it even matter anymore?" Although I think the answer to the first question is more straightforward than Perry supposes (Ask the creator. Do they consider it art?), he gave some interesting and amusing considerations and examples. I don't think Duchamp should be able to take a urinal that he didn't make and declare it to be art, but if no one else is going to call bs, I don't actually care all that much. Let him come up with whatever unconvincing explanation/statement he wants. However, the fact that duplicates ( duplicates!) go for millions of dollars now does not impress or inspire me; if anything it just makes me disappointed in humans.

    I am so happy to have learned about Henry Darger and his 15,000+ page work of fiction, In the Realms of the Unreal though. Apparently there's a documentary about it. I must watch it!

  • Maria Zbroy

    «У наші дні люди люблять стояти в чергах до мистецтва, особливо до партисипативного: мистецтва, по якому можуть потовктися діти чи біля якого можна зробити фотку для «Інстаґраму». Потреба у видовищах незнищенна, особливо в масових видовищах. Я називаю це явище «атракціони плюс судоку». Людям хочеться якогось несамовитого й захопливого переживання від мистецтва, а потім їм хочеться трошки задуматись, що то було.»

    Скільки разів ви приходили на популярну виставку, сповільненим кроком обходили зал, зупинялись в місцях найбільшого скупчення людей, а потім виходили із приміщення і казали собі: «Але ж дурня! І чого всі у захваті?». Особисто я кілька разів потрапляла на гачок «популярності» сучасного мистецтва і лише розчаровувалась. Так, коли до Києва приїхав Дем‘єн Герст, вважалось кричущо некультурним не відвідати його виставку у PinchukArtCentre. Якби це сталось зараз, то я за жодних обставин не стала б дивитись на теля у формальдегіді, але тоді, 18-річна, я зазнала впливу громадськ��сті і оглянула все, що створив митець. Жодного піднесення і бажання роздумувати так і не виникло, до речі.

    «Не бійтесь галерей» - нова книга в арсеналі видавництва ArtHuss і одна з праць англійського художника Грейсона Перрі. Головна мета книги - полегшити нам з вами сприйняття творів сучасного мистецтва, і відповісти на питання, чим це мистецтво взагалі є.

    Одна з провідних думок Перрі полягає в наступному: зараз мистецтво ступило на той шлях, коли будь-що може стати твором, а будь-хто - називатись митцем. Так, арт перестав бути елітарним, він не потребує певної освіти чи майстерності. Шлях до популярності хаотичний і залежить від різних чинників, а тому пересічний відвідувач галерей зазвичай ніяковіє у виставкових залах. Коли діти бачать цукерки на стенді - вони думають, що це гостинці та з‘їдають їх, а потому виявляться, що то був арт-об‘єкт.

    У книзі є чимало влучних висловів про красу, істинність мистецтва, а також про долю митця. Вона точно стане в нагоді усім, хто ставив цінність витворів сучасного мистецтва під сумнів, а також буде хорошим посібником для тих, хто цікавиться сферою прекрасного.

  • CM

    On the opening page, we have this colourful illustration where a red factory/museum-like building saying:
    Press 1 for coach party modernism;
    2 for chattering class challenging;
    3 for youth oriented agitprop;
    4 for corporate event friendly spectacle

    This short book, adapted from the Reith Lecture given by the author on the BBC, is packed with these witticisms, both in written and illustrated forms. The author, Turner-prize-winning artist Grayson Perry, is our adorable, down-to-earth and well-read art world insider who wants to answer 4 often-asked questions, namely "What makes good art?", "What counts as art?" , "Can art still shock us?" and "How to become an artist?". His answers may not be particularly insightful* but his observations as an artist, his use of brilliant quotes and anecdotes#, and his heartfelt excitement to be able to share his love for art makes it a delightful read.

    *1: what curators and critics come to admire;2:almost everything but context matters; 3: not really, been there, done that; 4:keep trying

    #"Art is expressing one's universal wound- the wound of living of finite life of imcomplete meaning," Raymond Tallis, a clinical neuroscientist;
    "If you put it in the bin and people wonder why an artwork is in the bin, it is art." his high-school teacher;
    "Every artist should bite the hand that feeds him...but not too hard" Media artist Nam June Paik

  • Charlotte Jones

    I picked up this book in a charity shop about a year ago and hadn't got to it until now but I have been interested in it since it's publication in 2014.

    I have always considered myself a creative person but have always preferred older, more traditional artworks over contemporary art. This book explains Perry's experience as an artist nowadays and the way that contemporary art is created. It is a very philosophical look and has really made me think about my own views on the subject more. There are artists mentioned that I'd never previously heard of so I am definitely interested to look into their works.

    In terms of recommending this book, I think that this is written in a very accessible way and is full of great drawings to illustrate some of the ideas discussed so I would definitely recommend it if you are intrigued.

  • Parsa

    ادگار مورن میگوید رسانه ها حماقت سطح پایین را تولید می کنند و دانشگاه ها حماقت سطح بالا را.
    به نظرم میتوان شق سومی هم به گفتار مورن افزود و آن نشر نو است که حماقتی در این میانه را توزیع میکند.
    کتاب اصلا در حد و اندازه ادعاهایش نیست. مترجم با همه تلاشش برای روانی و یکدستی متن موفق عمل نکرده و به نظر میرسد با نخواندنش چیزی از دست نمی دادم.
    کتاب پر است از نقل قول های درخشان از هنرمندان و فلاسفه و این میان، نویسنده که خود هنرمند مطرح و نام آشنایی در بریتانیاست تلاش می کنند با ربط دادن نقل قولها به مخاطب بگوید که هنر معاصر چیست و چرا گران است و چرا ارزان است و موزه و گالری چه کار میکنند و ... اما نویسنده تنها تلاش می کند. او به هیچ یک از سوالها پاسخ نمیدهند و با طنز مخصوص ه خودش تنها از آنها عبور میکند.

  • Matthew Tyas

    I found this to be a good introduction to the world of contemporary art and an interesting insight into the life of a professional modern artist. I thought the discussion around post modern art and the final chapter on Perry's life and how he became an artist to be the most interesting portion of the book. All's told an interest, brief and engaging book that didn't make a huge impact on me but has got me thinking about art more.