Unpacking My Library: Artists and Their Books edited by Jo Steffens and Matthias Neumann
Published by Yale University Press
Published on November 7, 2017
Genre: Nonfiction (Adult)
Page Count:
Source: Netgalley
Format: eBook
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Taking its inspiration from Walter Benjamin’s seminal 1931 essay, the Unpacking My Library series charts a spirited exploration of the reading and book collecting practices of today’s leading thinkers. Artists and Their Books showcases the personal libraries of ten important contemporary artists based in the United States (Mark Dion, Theaster Gates, Wangechi Mutu, Ed Ruscha, and Carrie Mae Weems), Canada (Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller), and the United Kingdom (Billy Childish, Tracey Emin, and Martin Parr). Through engaging interviews, the artists discuss the necessity of reading and the meaning of books in their lives and careers.
This is a book about books, but it even more importantly highlights the role of literature in shaping an artist’s self-presentation and persona. Photographs of each artist’s bookshelves present an evocative glimpse of personal taste, of well-loved and rare volumes, and of the individual touches that make a bookshelf one’s own. The interviews are accompanied by “top ten” reading lists assembled by each artist, an introduction by Jo Steffens, and Marcel Proust’s seminal essay “On Reading.”
Hello.
Unpacking My Library: Artists and Their Books is exactly what you would think it is. The readers are taken into the world of the artists and shown their book shelves. Seeing what titles and authors influenced the artists allows the reader insight. This book shows us another side to the artists in a lovely way.
Thank you Netgalley and Yale University Press for a digital copy of this book. I am rating it Five Blue Books because it does exactly what it was supposed to do. It was very well done. I would look into the other volumes in this series. Recommendation is likely.
InkedBookDragon
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