Cautionary Tales: Critical Curating

by Jean-Hubert Martin, Sara Arrhenius, David Carrier

Ten international art related professionals consider the increased influence of independent curators and cultural producers and how the role of the curator has changed over the last ten years. Using examples from past exhibitions and personal experiences, the writers address how working within an institution differs from being independent, the difficulties of balancing artistic vision with expectations of funders and institutions, and the ethical issues of working with artists and collectors, among many other subjects. A resource text for students and others interested in the curatorial field, Cautionary Critical Curating will provide valuable and interesting reading for students considering a curatorial career and others interested in current trends in today's art world.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

125 pages, Paperback

First published April 2, 2007

Reviews

[Lou · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure how I felt about this- the essays were interesting, but also made me feel weirder about curators. Holding up Walter Hopps and Harold Szeeman as the two big heroes of curatordom feels like an artist saying Picasso is their hero, a little bit off.

"He (Szeeman) organized exhibitions in which the improbable could occur, and was willing to risk the impossible" is a particularly gross quote, what real "risk" is there in curating? What does "risk the impossible" even mean?

Plenty here about curators feeling really, really uncomfortable in their relationship to artists. Seems like everyone in this book except Dave Hickey would be horribly uncomfortable to hang out with, not that that's the measure of a good book but you can feel the uptightness oozing out of the pages..

[Sofia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Posted on my book blog.

I came across this book in my college's library while doing research for an essay on the changing roles and concept of the curator. It was certainly interesting to be exposed to such different perspectives on curating. There were a lot of opinions I disagreed with strongly, and a few positive and thought-provoking points being made. The field of art curating is still a relatively new one to be studied, and in the sense that everyone is still trying to make sense of it, this is a valuable book that is sure to raise questions.

Recommended for both students and professionals.

[Jovanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would recommend some of the essays in this books, others I felt to be a bit obvious and redundant and being as this books is from 2003 and curatorial practice is constantly changing they felt dated. In general I also felt all the authors were talking directly about global curatorial practice or referring to it and this still seems to be the issue now for curating but not as important as it evidently was 10 years, i feel now there is much much more to be discussed and you dot find that here. If you're looking for curating 101 tips and personal stories this might be the book for you, if not look elsewhere.