Overview

Romanticized notions of how one becomes an “artist” have long been questioned, so why do we still fetishize them in popular culture, turning a blind eye to the politics of exclusionism that characterize the art world and conforming our creative potential to well-trodden stereotypes? I'm Not an Artist is a critical appraisal of the role of the artist through time and an account of how successful artists have conquered their spot in the history of art, from the rise of the Renaissance artist star to the multiplicity of artistic identities we see in the creative landscape today. Entertaining, informative, and packed with important but lesser-known stories about how artists became famous, it examines the cultural importance of the professional label “artist” and invites readers to “give up the artist myth” in order to rediscover creativity beyond the stronghold of institutions, markets, trends, and cultural clichés. It’s a book about art, artists, art history, and the art market as well as the role creativity plays in our lives and how outdated power structures and professional labels are a hindrance to unlocking creative potential. Openly engaging with the contradictions and paradoxes that currently define the relationship between artists, the education system, and the art market, the book proposes an eco-cultural model that can allow artists to reconfigure their identities, and in the process tilt the artworld’s axis. By turns a critical framework for examining what constitutes the term “artist”, an alternative art historical account and a no holds barred guide to how the art world really works, this boundary-breaking book challenges existing practices, methodologies, and metrics of success, calling for a fairer art world that is non-elitist and multicultural. It allows readers to critically position themselves in today’s art world in a clear, ethically grounded, and responsible way.

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9781350418776

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Reviews

Giovanni Aloi's I'm Not an Artist is an ambitious and overdue contribution to the much-needed (and much-avoided) project of reconsidering what art is, was, and could be. Bucking an artistic discourse that long ago mastered the dark art of co-opting such challenges into its own image, Aloi strips away the truisms which shield the art world's collective false consciousness from so many dangerous yet necessary questions. * Mitch Speed, Art Critic and Writer, Berlin, Germany * Urgent and vital reading for anybody interested in questioning what an artist is. Giovanni Aloi carefully dismantles the conception of the artist, equipping the reader with the tools to define their creativity on their own terms. * Harold Offeh, Reader in Performance and Social Arts Practice, Tutor in Contemporary Art Practice, Royal College of Art, UK *

Author Information

Giovanni Aloi is an art historian and curator, specializing in the representation of nature, history and theory of photography, and everyday objects in art. He currently lectures on modern and contemporary art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, USA.

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