“But what does it take
? I could have done it too”; “It is not art”; “And ugly too!”. These are more or less the standard phrases we hear from friends and relatives in front of a work of contemporary art . Except for a few already famous names, the fate of contemporary artists is to be misunderstood, accused of lack of talent and pretentiousness. Yet, this is not the case. Contemporary art is less immediate than traditional art, but no less valid or less “art”. You simply need to have a few more tools to know how to interpret it . Here we have collected some books that talk about it, to read and to give to our skeptical friends.
Read also:The 10 best contemporary artists I could have done it too, Francesco Bonami
With an amused and irreverent style, Francesco Bonami helps us to understand what distinguishes a great artist from a bad one, what made Marcel Duchamp or Andy Warhol pass the test of time. And if it is certainly true that in the last century art has evolved to the point of being almost unrecognizable, the precious and often hilarious work of Bonami makes us understand once and for all why it is not true that “we could too “. And this you call art
, Will Gompertz
Will Gompertz takes the reader on a fascinating tour that will forever change the way of conceiving modern art. From Warhol’s jar of Campbell soup to Damien Hirst’s shark, the author tells the hidden stories behind each masterpiece, reveals the life and even unknown aspects of famous artists. We will discover how conceptual art is not garbage, Picasso is a genius (but Cezanne even better), Pollock is not just drop painting, cubism has no cubes, Duchamp’s Pisciatoio has changed the course of art, and a child 5 years could not really make it happen. Art in the toilet, Francesco Bonami
Through a series of stories and reflections, the author shows us why now art is no longer enough just ideas that chase each other with the aim of being one more revolutionary than the other. And because, provocation after provocation, contemporaneity has exhausted the power to amaze her. And he concludes that, in order to be useful again, art must rediscover the ability to invent and tell stories, recovering that essential cocktail of ingenuity and genius which is the basis of human creativity. Contemporary art, Angela Vattese
A more in-depth text, for those who really want to enter into aesthetic issues related to art and its enhancement. There is still poetry in contemporary art
What we are willing to define art
How does the system that attributes value workThe 12 million dollar shark, Donald Thompson
What is the point of paying 12 million dollars for a 4-meter tiger shark in a tank of formaldehyde
With disenchantment, a great desire to say what no one ever tells about art and with so much passion, Thompson uncovered a somewhat esoteric universe, dominated by a few initiates, and went on to make it clear why, after all, it is not so absurd to spend 12 million dollars on a fish under glass. Contemporary art explained to your husband, Mauro Covacich
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Why Joseph Beuys locked himself up for three days in a gallery with a coyote
Why Mona Hatoum showed her gastroscopy
Because Marina Abramovic has spent an entire Venice Biennale scaling beef bones
Your husband is lingering perplexed, he does not understand why he should follow you to a terrifying vernissage, he who does not distinguish a watercolor from an oil. Yet there is a way to change his mind. Just browse these pages and let Mauro Covacich, with cheerful simplicity, come to give you a hand and lead you together in the world of contemporary art.
