The Contemporary Art Scene

I know, I know. One should blog more than once every six weeks or so. January was an insane month for me  (but this is fodder for another post).  However, I was able to squeeze in the reading of Sarah Thornton’s bestselling sociological study of the contemporary art scene, Seven Days in the Art World (2008).  My husband, who is especially keen on twentieth-century art, gave me the book for Christmas and I found it an engaging read. In a nutshell, it looks at various aspects of the contemporary art world and spends “a day” in the life of each arena.  Chapters are titled as follows: The Auction (Sotheby’s), The Crit (MFA studio class at Cal Arts), The Fair (Basel), The Prize (Turner), The Magazine (Artforum), The Studio Visit (Murakami), The Biannale (Venice).  I will confess to being more than a little annoyed at the lack of attention given to academics (as I recall, a discussion with a historian was briefly recounted in the chapter on “The Magazine”), but I am rather biased towards thinking that we have something to contribute to this realm:)  That said,  I think this book is a must-read for students who are interested in careers related to the contemporary art scene but have little sense of what these spaces and vocations actually look like and what it means to be a player in this realm.

I’d love to hear from those of you who have either read the book, who live or work in one of the above-mentioned places, or who would like to be a part of the contemporary art scene.

Conversation topic: If you could spend a day in the contemporary art world,  which one of these spaces would you visit and why?