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  • Art Is Life

  • Icons and Iconoclasts, Visionaries and Vigilantes, and Flashes of Hope in the Night
  • Written by: Jerry Saltz
  • Narrated by: Jerry Saltz, Mark Bramhall
  • Length: 16 hrs and 1 min
  • 5.0 out of 5 stars (7 ratings)

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Art Is Life

Written by: Jerry Saltz
Narrated by: Jerry Saltz, Mark Bramhall
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Publisher's Summary

From the Pulitzer Prize winner and best-selling author of How to Be an Artist: a deliciously comprehensible survey of the art world in turbulent times.

Jerry Saltz is one of our most-watched writers about art and artists and a passionate champion of the importance of art in our shared cultural life. Since the 1990s he has been an indispensable cultural voice: Witty and provocative, he has attracted contemporary listeners to fine art as few critics have. An early champion of forgotten and overlooked women artists, he has also celebrated the pioneering work of African American, LGBTQ+, and other long-marginalized creators. Sotheby's Institute of Art has called him, simply, “the art critic”.

Now, in Art Is Life, Jerry Saltz draws on two decades of work to offer a real-time survey of contemporary art as a barometer of our times. Chronicling a period punctuated by dramatic turning points—from the cultural reset of 9/11 to the rolling social crises of today—Saltz traces how visionary artists have both documented and challenged the culture. Art Is Life offers Saltz’s eye-opening appraisals of trailblazers like Kara Walker, David Wojnarowicz, Hilma af Klint, and Jasper Johns; provocateurs like Jeff Koons, Richard Prince, and Marina Abramović; and visionaries like Jackson Pollock, Bill Traylor, and Willem de Kooning. Saltz celebrates landmarks like the Obama portraits by Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald, writes searchingly about disturbing moments such as the Ankara gallery assassination, and offers surprising takes on figures from Thomas Kinkade to Kim Kardashian. And he shares stories of his own haunted childhood, his time as a “failed artist”, and his epiphanies upon beholding work by Botticelli, Delacroix, and the cave painters of Niaux.

With his signature blend of candor and conviction, Jerry Saltz argues in Art Is Life for the importance of the fearless artist—reminding us that art is a kind of channeled voice of human experience, a necessary window onto our times. The result is an openhearted and irresistibly enjoyable appraisal by one of our most important cultural observers.

©2022 Jerry Saltz (P)2022 Penguin Audio
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What the critics say

“The world’s most famous and celebrated contemporary art critic.”—GQ

“One of the most powerful art critics today.”—Time Out

“A critic of the people, bringing art to a broader audience.”—Architectural Digest

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Frank, insightful and engaging for art lovers

Mostly American, mostly well-known contemporary artists and art scene viewed critically and generously, getting into the issues that concern artists today. Fun and inclusive. Jerry reveals something of himself too, which kept it real....

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A Real Human

Jerry Saltz became part of my daily life. I’d wake up and listen to him before breakfast. He would always start my day. His slow, well chosen words were like watching a landscape painting , they were calming and kind. Even when he was looking at art which visually I didn’t want in my head or eyes, he found good things to say and was severely honest. I believed him. The last two chapters proved to me what a very nice man this is indeed, and I don’t come across those that often. Pro all underdogs of the art world, he gives everyone a chance and seems to think they all have a chance at art. His writing is unique, it’s lulling, it slows down the world and makes us look at art and life at a pace we should all live at. He lives many, many miles from me, in a different country no less, but I felt he was my neighbor,the kind you want next door. I loved so much of his writing, his unique view of life, and I grew not to care about the art, but more how he felt about it, and what words he would use to tell their story. I love his writing. It’s familiar and new at the same time. He’s a simple man with a worldly view, and I just want to know what he has to say. His chapter on Jasper Johns made me want to buy this book, it’s the kindest summary of any artist/human being. He does what he says Johns does- he looks and looks and looks. …. At everything. I have already told all my artist friends to buy the book, get it from the library, get it into your life one way or a other. It will enrich your very soul.

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