ART RULES: How great artists think, create and work, great gift for your blocked-creative giftee

ART RULES: How great artists think, create and work
CASSIE PACKARD
Frances Lincoln Ltd
$24.99 "flexi-bind" (whatever that is), available now

Rating: 4.5* of five (the "Pink Ding" taken off from five)

The Publisher Says: The best thing about rules is that you can break them: here are over 100 mantras for anyone interested in creating great art.

What can we learn from great artists? When we hold their practices up to the light, what do we see – and how might those encounters reshape our own thinking about art?

Delving into the attitudes, working practices and mantras of artists hailing from the eighteenth century to the present day, Art Rules distills over 100 insights into the lives of artists inside the studio and out. This book is animated by questions: How do artists think about creativity? What forms can process take? How might artists craft a personal definition of success?

Drawing upon art historical research and artist interviews, the accessible takeaways on these virtuosos’ varied practices pack a punch. This lively compendium offers up a wealth of perspectives from an international, intergenerational group of artists working across media. Art historical heavyweights including Louise Bourgeois, Marcel Duchamp, Frida Kahlo and Henri Matisse appear alongside relatively newer names such as Kerry James Marshall, Ana Mendieta and Mika Rottenberg, as well as exciting artists on the rise like Emilie Louise Gossiaux and Madeline Hollander.

Some of the insights may seem more practical, while others trend conceptual; some may unearth existing knowledge, while others may come as a surprise; some will stay with you forever, while others you’ll only need to try once. Art Rules allows readers to either dip in at random or read from cover to cover for lessons in how great artists think, make and work.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: There is a lot to be said for listening to the thoughts of experts in their field. In this case, artists talk about the nature and the process of creating art...more broadly applicable to creativity as well. The artworks shown are so beautiful it's easy to see a case for giving it (to self or others) as a browser's book of gorgeous stuff to look at!

My favorite thing about this beauty as a gift is that it doesn't have the "are you blocked? let me help you" vibe that lots of creativity-focued books do. It can sneak in under a resistant recipient's radar. That is no small feat. Author Packard has a deft touch, honed in many of the art world's best wordy venues. A partial list of her credits: Art in America, Artforum, BOMB, frieze, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. Quality venues, one and all, and her prose shows it. Here are some sample spreads to show the æsthetic of the object you're gifting:


The Contents page...a clear statement of clarity and quality.


Introduction's part-title. What's the deal with pink this year? Me no likee.


Is there ever a bad time to include a Cézanne image of Mont Sainte-Victoire? I do no think so. The advice to seek inspiration in your surroundings, in nature, in the physical place you live, is timeless and always correct.


Never underestimate the generative power of showing off. You might not have a vernissage...yet, but you can gather some folks and show 'em what you got. Florine Stettheimer's painting is both lovely and inspiring.


The shorter pieces are mostly like this, simple and designed to be absorbed without deep contemplation of the art. They're still both pithy and useful, as the whole book is, while being very clearly designed with the visual person in mind. Absorbing advice is always easier when it comes packaged in your preferred wrappings.

Terrific way to support a fearful or blocked aspiring visual artist or visually-oriented creative soul. Booksgiving never had a clearer winner.