As I was preparing to write this post on reading for your practice, an artist friend contacted me via twitter asking for reading suggestions to help her prepare for a presentation.  It was pure coincidence, but apt.  Developing a habit of reading related to your practice is essential for your development as an artist and is the bedrock of critical writing.  Like most of us, you probably have horrific memories of art history 101.  Don’t let that stop you now from developing this vital habit.  Being literate in your field will strengthen your position, your creativity and your understanding.  It’s worth the time to move from making what you like to making work with meaning and relevance.

Don’t have time?  Do you really need to watch another episode of …….. you fill in the blank.  You can probably read a whole chapter in the time it takes to watch that single episode; use the half hour before you turn out the lights at night to read a few pages, you’ll sleep better too.  Read a few pages while you have your breakfast in the morning and a few more when you take tea at four (don’t take tea at four, I highly recommend it as a good way to unwind).  We all have extremely busy schedules and many demands on our time, but you can find the time if you commit to reading; use any ‘down time’ as ‘reading time’.

Don’t know where to start?  Who is your favourite artist?  Start with a book written about their work.  This will likely be a critical analysis and as such it will reference other connections to art history, artists, social or political issues, philosophy, theories and ideologies.  There will be a whole range of topics discussed within the analysis of your favourite artist’s work; use this material as a starting point to delve further into those contextual issues surrounding that artist.

Ask questions while you read and pay heed to them.  Why was Diebenkorn’s work an intelligent response to Matisse?  What does Marxism have to do with art production?  Who is this Lacan person?  If a question surfaces while you read, take the diversion and find out the answer to the question.  This will not only broaden your scope of knowledge in your field, it will be fascinating; leading you to things you never imagined.  Which ultimately is the point, reading about someone you admire will hold your interest and if you allow your natural inquisitiveness to take you, you will find all sorts of interesting things along the way.

Build your library:  All professionals have reference books for their practice; an artist is no different.  You should have some general books on art history which you have found for yourself and will enjoy reading – forget the art history book you had in university, unless it was E.H. Gombrich who I have great respect for and recommend highly.  Gombrich’s The Story of Art is written with clarity and insight; it is a wonderful all-purpose art history book.

One of my favourite art history books is art since 1900, by Hal Foster, Rosalind Krauss, Yve-Alain Bois and Benjamin Buchloh, the October gang (wondering what October is, google it and find out, you’ll be pleased).  The essays are rich and the topics discussed are set in their relevant context, so political, sociological, psychological and other issues which pertain to the time are taken into consideration.  This gives a bigger picture view.  There are fantastic further reading suggestions at the end of every essay and there is a glossary of terms which explain many of those art-speak words.  A unique feature of the book is the roundtable discussions amongst the authors, one at mid-century and a final analysis called, ‘The predicament of contemporary art’.  I spent about a year just studying this one discussion and learned so much about current practice.

You should have some anthologies of artist and critical writings.  Two I use regularly are Art in Theory 1900 – 2000, edited by Charles Harrison and Paul Wood, and Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art, edited by Kristine Stiles and Peter Selz.  These are wonderful collections of important essays and articles by the major figures in art, both artists and critics alike.  It is particularly interesting to read essays by artists which give further insight into their art practice and views.  These reference books give you another advantage – bibliographies.  In the back of these books will be listed all the books and magazine articles which have been referenced; they are a fabulous source for further reading material.

Yeah, but I hate art-speak.  So do I, don’t let it stop you.  Those terms come from philosophy, so they do actually have a basis in meaning.  Just look them up so you know what is being said and move on with reading.  In other words, don’t let them intimidate you.  You never know, you may start reading philosophy!

Art Mags:  There was a point in my career where I just felt so inadequate, reading art magazines was painful so I stopped; it was a mistake.  Art magazines are the best way to stay current.  You should follow or subscribe to a range of regional and national/international journals.  You will have your finger on the pulse of the art community – just where it should be.  Some of my favourites are: October, Art Monthly, e-flux and Artforum.  You may also want to subscribe to magazines in your media which will discuss the particular issues related to what you do.

You don’t have to be a fast reader; it’s okay to plod along, it’s even okay to just dip in, but do it regularly.  You don’t have to understand everything you read, the more your read the more you will understand.  You don’t even have to be fully engaged, if you hit a dull patch just read through it, you’ll soon come to something interesting again.

You indulge your creativity, do the same for your intellect; it won’t be time wasted, I promise.

Further Reading:

This is a list of 14 ways to develop a general reading habit.  You can apply these ideas to reading art history by starting with your favourite artists.

Harvard Library suggests 6 reading habits to develop for first year students.  This is valuable information because as your habit of reading art history develops, you should use these scholarly ways to analyse what you read.