Making It

The Artist's Survival Guide

Jaša, Noah Charney

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
• Year: 2021
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781538142004
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: Art General

What Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential did for the world of chefs and restaurants, Making It does for the art world.

Making It is a gonzo memoir of an established artist crossed with objective advice, tips and tricks fleshed out by a best-selling art historian and Pulitzer finalist writer on art. It peels back the shroud and reveals the highs and struggles in the life and career of a working artist.

Specifically aimed at aspiring artists and art students, it will be of interest to anyone who wants to know what it is like to have an artist's-eye-view of the art world, asking the tough and often glossed-over questions that rising artists inevitably have, not only about the creative process, but about navigating the turbulent waters of the social, professional, academic, critical, museum and trade elements of a career as a visual artist.

How best to deal with the abundance of alcohol, drugs and sex while wire-walking your own artistic dilemmas? How can an artist launch his or her career and help it flourish? What's it like to achieve every artist's dream, including showing at the Venice Biennale? What does it really mean to "make it" and how can you maintain your groove once you've arrived?

All these questions and more are answered in this combination tell-all memoir and how-to manual for rising artists and anyone wanting a behind-the-scenes tour of what it's like to be an artist.

Table of contents

• INTRODUCTION The Art of Wire Walking: Career Making versus Making Art
• 1 ON ORIGINS AND EARLY YEARS Do I Need to Show Great Potential Early on to Have a Chance?
• 2 THE MAKING OF THE ARTIST How Do I Choose between “Real Life” and Schooling?
• 3 AT THE ACADEMY How Early on Do I Need to Find My Style?
• 4 FIRST SHOWS AND ENTERING THE ART SCENE How Early, and How, Should I Show My Work?
• 5 YOUNG AND BOLD How do I Survive Building the Impossible (and the Aftermath)?
• 6 MONEY, ART, SEX How Do I Navigate the Triumphs and Pitfalls?
• 7 SHIFTING TO A BIGGER STAGE How Can I Create Consistency in My Practice While People Come and Go?
• 8 BEHIND BIG SHOWS AND BIENNALES What’s It Like to Be in the Midst of Such a Big, Career-Defining Project?
• EPILOGUE The Endurance Strategy: Dance with the Bear
• A THANK YOU FROM JAŠA
• ABOUT THE AUTHORS