Wonderful. Personal and informative

I hadn’t encountered Jerry Saltz before, or at least I had come across him in various art documentaries but not paid much attention. This book is a fantastic survey of his writing on art and how he became an art critic after a challenging upbringing. His essays on art works and artists are wonderful, if perhaps overly US centric. Overall a great listen.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

I no a lot more about art 😀

fun read I be listening to this again and again I think l become a artist

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

The book is good but aweful reading. Jerry should have read the whole thing.

I dislike the reading of the other narrator. He seems uninterested and the reading is bad. The voice is not great either. Buyers keep in mind this book may be one you want to read rather than listen to.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

A masterpiece.

A distillation of the life-changing power of art in a story told with honesty, humility and humour.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Even better than expected

I've never been interested in art. I only listened to this audiobook because of a fascinating interview with Jerry Saltz.

I enjoyed this book even more than the interview, even though it's so different from what I usually listen to.

I'm now interested in art.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

How to be with Art- Expanding How to be an Artist

I learnt a lot from Jerry’s first book about how to be an artist. But this book expands that knowledge to include a way of being with Art. It’s not an encyclopaedic, academic art history and theory book. It’s not dry or dense. There are selected names and dates here, but I was listening to something else. Those details are here to scaffold a more wholistic teaching: what makes art breathe and gives it a heartbeat. Risk, sacrifice, integrity, devotion, community. For me, these are the only things an artist really needs and the only thing an art reader and lover needs.
The Artworld context is observed here, but I appreciated also observing that- although there is interdependency between artists and the artworld- all the art world noise is what it is- and does what it does - and has little to do with what drives the production or reading of great art on an individual level. The artworld context of art is interesting in itself and does determine to a degree what we have access to and what is financially sustained, and sometimes, how cultural knowledge changes over time, even how historical work becomes contemporary for us.
When writing like this happens, kind of like a cultural meta critique- we can see the parts of the whole and where we fit in. Ultimately cultural knowledge is retained or rejected or reproduced over time by a broader collective and irritated by forces great and small.
Here are the stories of those varied and complex forces and values that compel the greater artworld collective, you, and individual artists, and their shapeshifting contexts.
This is generous writing; this is Jerry’s personal Artworld. It’s a radically vulnerable sharing that creates a container for you to connect with your values and your edges, and then encourages you to risk expressive modes and receiving and critical modes that access your boundless potential as a human and a medium. It is inclusive.
It works on a macro scale by delivering micro biographies and poetic selections of useable artistic wisdom. Unlike his first book, which was like a recipe book, Jerry doesn’t preach or prescribe here, he just takes you on a walk, a private tour of his artworld heart. He’s telling the stories of life and lives that teach by example. That’s all you need. Just go for a walk with him, look and listen, then take that generosity home and work to share creation or reception.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

I loved this book! So much insight!

Jerry is a treasure! They way he talks about art…writes about life…yes, definitely art is life! I feel I need to listen to this again and again!

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Excellent

A collection of absolutely excellent essays on art by the author. Very insightful and Highly recommended.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!