How to write about contemporary art

Summary: How to Write About Contemporary Art is the definitive guide to writing engagingly about the art of our time. Invaluable for students, arts professionals and other aspiring writers, the book first navigates readers through the key elements of style and content, from the aims and structure of a piece to its tone and language. Brimming with practical tips that range across the complete spectrum of art-writing, the second part of the book is organized around its specific forms, including academic essays; press releases and news articles; texts for auction and exhibition catalogues, gallery guides and wall labels; op-ed journalism and exhibition reviews; and writing for websites and blogs. In counselling the reader against common pitfalls such as jargon and poor structure, Gilda Williams points instead to the power of close looking and research, showing how to deploy language effectively; how to develop new ideas; and how to construct compelling texts. More than 30 illustrations throughout support closely analysed case studies of the best writing, in Source Texts by 64 authors, including Claire Bishop, Thomas Crow, T.J. Demos, Okwui Enwezor, Dave Hickey, John Kelsey, Chris Kraus, Rosalind Krauss, Stuart Morgan, Hito Steyerl, and Adam Szymczyk. Supplemented by a general bibliography, advice on the use and misuse of grammar, and tips on how to construct your own contemporary art library, How to Write About Contemporary Art is the essential handbook for all those interested in communicating about the art of today.

Record details

ISBN: 0500291578 (paperback)
ISBN: 9780500291573 (paperback)
Physical Description: 264 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm
print
Publisher: New York : Thames & Hudson, 2014.

Content descriptions

General Note:	"34 illustrations and 64 source texts."--title page.
Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references and index.
Formatted Contents Note:	Machine generated contents note: 1. There is no single `best' way to write about art -- 2. `International Art English' -- 3. Anyone can learn to write competently about art -- Section One Job Why Write about Contemporary Art? -- 1. Explaining v. evaluating -- 2. Art-words and artworks -- 3. Artist/dealer/curator/critic/blogger/`Kunstworker'/journalist/historian -- 4. Out of the blue: where art-criticism came from -- 5. Art-writing sans frontieres -- Section Two Practice How to Write About Contemporary Art -- 1. `Fear is the root of bad writing' -- first time you write about art -- `The baker's family who have just won the big lottery prize' -- three jobs of communicative art-writing -- 2. How to substantiate your ideas -- Provide factual or historical evidence -- Extract visual evidence -- Pay attention -- Follow your thinking -- 3. audience: grounding specialists and non-specialists -- 4. Practical `how-to's -- Be specific -- Do not `explain' a dense, abstract idea with another dense, abstract idea -- Load your text with solid nouns -- Adjectives: pick one -- Gorge on the wildest variety of strong, active verbs -- `The road to hell is paved with adverbs' -- Order information logically -- Organize your thoughts into complete paragraphs -- Avoid lists -- Avoid jargon -- When in doubt, tell a story -- When still in doubt, make a comparison -- Simile and metaphor: use with caution -- Final tips -- Section Three Ropes How to Write Contemporary Art Formats -- 1. How to write an academic essay -- Getting started -- research question -- Structure -- `Do's and `don't's -- Further tips -- 2. `Explaining' texts -- How to write a short news article -- How to write a short descriptive text -- How to write a press release -- How to write an auction catalogue entry -- 3. `Evaluating' texts -- How to write an exhibition review for a magazine or blog -- How to write a review for a newspaper -- How to write a book review -- How to write op-ed art journalism -- How to write a catalogue essay or magazine article -- 4. How to write an artist's statement -- ten most common pitfalls (and how to avoid them) -- How to write about a single artwork -- 5. Writing formats compared: one artist, many writers -- Conclusion -- How to read about contemporary art -- Notes -- Resources -- Rules of grammar (and when to break them) -- Beginning a contemporary art library -- Bibliography and e-sources -- List of Source Texts -- List of figures.