Riverside reviewed Get the Picture by Bianca Bosker
Making sense of the art world
5 stars
Bianca Bosker gets herself the best assignments. First the world of wine in Cork Dork, and now a foray into New York City’s art scene.
Her path from gallery assistant, to saleswoman, to artist’s helper, to museum guard is a bit rambling. But she has a gift for latching on to vivid characters and asking pointed questions. Every chapter brings surreal anecdotes along with musings on what makes art worthwhile (or at least worth a lot of money to some).
What makes this book so much fun is Bosker's turns of phrase. She doesn’t just develop a desire to curate a show – her wish “solidified into a yappy, un-shut-uppable chihuahua of want.” An unprimed canvas is ready to “guzzle paint like a frat kid under a beer bong” and an enthusiastic collector is a “geyser of adrenaline.”
Finally, as she turns a newly trained eye on both a …
Bianca Bosker gets herself the best assignments. First the world of wine in Cork Dork, and now a foray into New York City’s art scene.
Her path from gallery assistant, to saleswoman, to artist’s helper, to museum guard is a bit rambling. But she has a gift for latching on to vivid characters and asking pointed questions. Every chapter brings surreal anecdotes along with musings on what makes art worthwhile (or at least worth a lot of money to some).
What makes this book so much fun is Bosker's turns of phrase. She doesn’t just develop a desire to curate a show – her wish “solidified into a yappy, un-shut-uppable chihuahua of want.” An unprimed canvas is ready to “guzzle paint like a frat kid under a beer bong” and an enthusiastic collector is a “geyser of adrenaline.”
Finally, as she turns a newly trained eye on both a sculpture in a museum and the hot-dog cart parked outside, she concludes that “Art is a choice. It is a fight against complacency. It is a decision to forge a life that’s richer, more uncomfortable, more mind-blowing, more uncertain.”
Highly recommended for anyone who wants to make art, understand art, or just appreciate it more.