How to write about contemporary art / Gilda Williams.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Williams, Gilda, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Art criticism--Authorship.

Art criticism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (264 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

London ; New York, New York : Thames & Hudson, [2014]

Summary:

This is the definitive guide to writing engagingly about the art of our time. Invaluable for students, arts professionals and other writers, it brims with practical tips that range across the full spectrum of art-writing 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. Gilda Williams, a London correspondent for Artforum, points 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. Includes a bibliography, advice on the use and misuse of grammar and tips on how to construct your own contemporary art library.

Contents:

Cover

Title Page

About the Author

Other titles of Interest

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Contents

Introduction

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: The 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 frontières

Section Two: The Practice: How to Write About Contemporary Art

1. 'Fear is the root of bad writing'

The first time you write about art

'The baker's family who have just won the big lottery prize'

The 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. The 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: The Ropes: How to Write Contemporary Art Formats

1. How to write an academic essay

Getting started

The 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

The 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

Index

Copyright.

Notes:

"34 illustrations and 64 source texts."

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780500772164

0500772169

9780500772171

OCLC:

901192787