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From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. The hot, hip contemporary art world, argues sociologist Thornton, is a cluster of intermingling subcultures unified by the belief, whether genuine or feigned, that nothing is more important than the art itself. It is a conviction, she asserts, that has transformed contemporary art into a kind of alternative religion for atheists. Thornton, a contributor to Artforum.com and the New Yorker, presents an astute and often entertaining ethnography of this status-driven world. Each of the seven chapters is a keenly observed profile of that world's highest echelons: a Christie's auction, a crit session at the California Institute of the Arts and the Art Basel art fair. The chapter on auctions (where one auction-goer explains, [I]t's dangerous to wear Prada.... You might get caught in the same outfit as three members of Christie's staff) is one of the book's strongest; the author's conversations about the role of the art critic with Artforum editor-in-chief Tim Griffin and the New Yorker's Peter Schjeldahl are edifying. Thornton offers an elegant, evocative, sardonic view into some of the art world's most prestigious institutions. 8 illus. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
Starred Review. ...Thornton, a contributor to Artforum.com and the New Yorker, presents an astute and often entertaining ethnography of this status-driven world. ... Thornton offers an elegant, evocative, sardonic view into some of the art world's most prestigious institutions.
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Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Awesome Journey Through the Art World,
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This review is from: Seven Days In The Art World (Hardcover)
Through Sarah Thornton's eyes I got a view into the art world I couldn't hope to get on my own. She shows great restraint in stating directly the complete vacuousness of so many aspects of the contemporary art world and it's history. Thornton tracks the influence of big money, ego, and hazy modernist ideology from the top down and back up again. I do wish Thornton could have played devil's advocate more often. Had Thornton contrasted the basic functions of art - the same throughout history and in the popular arts - to the contemporary art world, her book would have been more revealing as to how distanced this world is from the past and from us - us non-millionaires and non-artist wannabees.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
suffers by comparison,
By
This review is from: Seven Days In The Art World (Paperback)
I think if I read this book on its own I'd maybe have impacted me more. The problem was I read it after I had just read the "$12 Million Stuffed Shark" by Don Thompson. Sadly, Sarah Thornton's "Seven Days In The Art World" doesn't come anywhere close to matching Thompson's tome on contemporary art.
I actually found a couple of Thornton's chapters virtually unreadable and beyond boring especially the one on the Crit about an art school. Mainly I found the ground covered on art fairs, auctions and the entire business of art far more readable yet still lacking when compared to the Thompson book. Having lived in Japan for decades I was curious about Murakami so the chapter on his process in making art was cool yet also never felt like I got any closer to the man. I think the main problem with Thornton's writing is she doesn't really do much beyond reportage really. I never felt I got a feel for any of the people profiled as I did when reading the Thompson book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Bullsh-t Detector...buy this book...,
This review is from: Seven Days In The Art World (Hardcover)
Sarah Thornton has a gift that anyone entering the art world needs...A Bullsh-t detector...Buy this book...
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