Publishers Weekly
★ 11/27/2023
Journalist Bosker (Cork Dork) takes an energetic jaunt through the elitist and competitive world of contemporary art. Seeking to understand whether art can make for a “richer, more uncomfortable, more mind-blowing, more uncertain... more beautiful” life, Bosker finagled an internship at a rising art star’s Brooklyn gallery; sold astronomically priced photos at Art Basel Miami; curated a Hong Kong art show (“What makes art ‘good’?” she asked herself again and again as she tried to sift “crap from grade-A culture”); and studiously observed sculptures as a security guard at the Guggenheim museum (she resolved to spend at least 40 minutes “befriending” each statue). In the process, Bosker came to view art as a means “for appreciating life, but also a practice for creating a life worth appreciating,” one that helps “fight our instincts to truncate and elide, and in doing so, to notice more, appreciate more, empathize more.” Combining gossipy detail with philosophical musings, Bosker vividly depicts a pretentious world full of moneyed buyers and cliques while simultaneously giving due to the devoted artists, gallerists, and enthusiasts whose creativity enriches and expands their lives. Connoisseurs and neophytes alike will be charmed and captivated by Bosker’s boundless curiosity and astute powers of observation. (Feb.)
From the Publisher
Praise for Get the Picture:
“[Bosker] has written a dark comedy of manners, and what she exposes here might be a new kind of country club mentality, where the cultural elite can no longer exclude people based on race, gender or sexual identity, so they come up with clever new ways to build moats around their little castles. . . . Get the Picture is one of the funniest books I’ve read about New York’s contemporary art scene . . . Brilliant.” —The Washington Post
“A gripping and often hilarious investigation into the art world.” —TIME
“Eye-opening.” —NPR
“[A] plucky and hilarious account of years working as a gallery girl, studio assistant, and guard at the Guggenheim museum . . . [Bosker] doesn’t sit with and sift through her material so much as plunge headlong into it, gatecrashing cloistered ecosystems that want nothing to do with her, and emerging as a foremost expert.” —The Guardian
“Through her funny and fascinating experiences, [Bosker] does the seemingly impossible: sheds light on a strange world of beautiful things and the sometimes-ugly business around them.” —Town & Country, "Best Books of 2024 . . . So Far"
“A more grassroots perspective on the market’s machinations comes courtesy of another skilled journalist, Bianca Bosker, in Get the Picture, a page-turning romp around New York’s art world. Her quest, to determine what separates ‘good’ from ‘bad’ art, prompts her to find junior roles at art galleries, then with the artist Julie Curtiss and for the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, all while recording her findings. These reveal many of the baffling codes around intangible value, served up through genuine laugh-out-loud moments.” —Financial Times
“Darkly funny . . . a gonzo-style industry takedown.” —The Times of London
“It’s a passionate, brilliant examination of why humans make and value art, from a joyous and gifted investigator.” —Lit Hub
“An entertaining behind-the-scenes chronicle of art.” —Artnet
“A page-turner.” —Portland Monthly
“Informative and humorous.” —Pasatiempo
“Mesmerizing . . . Get the Picture is one of the funniest books I’ve read about New York’s contemporary art scene.” —The Spokesman Review
“[Bosker] has an energetic and engaging style, a sharp eye for details, and a rousing sense of humor . . . [Get the Picture] truly changed how I look at art.” —Psychology Today
“A hilarious exposé about the art industry . . . The most scintillating aspect of the book is Bosker herself — the narrator, the why-person, the self-acknowledged philistine and, most importantly, the reader’s friend. Instead of lecturing from an authoritative vantage point, Bosker lets readers witness at eye level her growing clarity of art’s function. She’s also witty, self-deprecating and isn’t afraid to call out snobbery.” —ScienceNews
“A captivating memoir, a fast-paced mystery, a laugh-out-loud comedy . . . Bosker’s wit dazzles, but her hands-on quest coupled with careful scholarship, is also awe-inspiring.” —Galleries West
“Connoisseurs and neophytes alike will be charmed and captivated by Bosker’s boundless curiosity and astute powers of observation.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“[Get the Picture] could not be more fun. A delightful book on an inspiring topic by a writer who could make dust sparkle.” —Kirkus (starred review)
“Curious but not naïve, gossipy but generous, critical but admiring, hilarious but profound . . . This book is sheer pleasure: the best book I’ve ever read about contemporary art.” —Benjamin Moser, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Sontag, and The Upside-Down World: Meetings with the Dutch Masters
“Get The Picture investigates the questions you’re too chicken to ask: ‘Um, how come this is called art and how come I’m supposed to like it, or is it fakery and what is art anyway?’ Bosker’s answers are fascinating and her writing is so compelling and funny that I am jealous.” —Patricia Marx, author of You Can Only Yell At Me For One Thing at a Time
“Funny, whip-smart, and gorgeously written, Get the Picture will forever transform the way you see. In this engrossing book, Bianca Bosker crashes that most gate-kept of worlds, contemporary art. . . . Equally edifying for art lovers and novices, Get the Picture will send you into a torrid love affair with shape, texture, and color. I loved every word.” —Suleika Jaouad, author of Between Two Kingdoms
“This book freaked me out. Bosker’s accessible, conversational spelunking into the world of contemporary art so powerfully rehydrated the PTSD in me between the little kid artist I once was with the self-consciously constricted thinker I became in art school that at one point I simply had to put it down, shaken. If you’ve ever wondered 'what happened' to art—galleries, critics, collectors—and, of course, artists—then this book is a very companionable start. It’s also very funny, to say nothing of very vivid. And, confoundingly, very, very difficult to put down.” —Chris Ware, New Yorker artist/writer, author of Building Stories and Whitney Biennial selectee (2002)
“Bianca Bosker takes us on a delightful journey into the rarefied world of art. What could have been an arch sendup turns out to be a joyous, empathetic engagement with an unforgettable collection of characters and artworks. I couldn't put Get the Picture down.” —Nathaniel Philbrick, author of In the Heart of the Sea and Travels with George
“Get the Picture is a brilliant adventure through the fraught, frenzied, fanatical world of art and emerging artists. Bosker flings us into the epicenter of creativity and obsession, and with infectious curiosity, illuminates the surprising science, history, and controversies at the core of our relationship with art. An extraordinary book.” —Kirk Wallace Johnson, author of The Feather Thief
“How to understand the art world? Bring questions and ideas then insinuate yourself—find ways to belong in the gallery, in the studio, at the fair. Bianca Bosker confesses her ignorance to experts, refuses to look down on schmos, and then gracefully (and often, hilariously) curates her own experience. I would buy a painting from this author, even if she weren’t selling it as research; and I highly recommend this book.” —Ted Conover, author of Newjack and Cheap Land Colorado
“Fascinating for contemporary art lovers and skeptics alike. At the heart of Bianca Bosker’s intelligent book is the author’s burning curiosity, and it’s contagious.” —Patrick Bringley, author of All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me
FEBRUARY 2024 - AudioFile
Journalist Bianca Bosker narrates her witty audiobook about the art world with pizzazz. She has a pleasing sound, paces the sometimes frantic-sounding proceedings well, and comes across as an authentic seeker. Performing in a comic style, she enhances the audiobook's ironic undertone, which suggests that many in the art world see journalists as "the enemy." In this work she seems like a combination journalist and action figure: She participates in performance art, stretches canvases, hangs out with gallerists and painters, sells art at a posh art fair in Miami, attends a dizzying number of openings, and, to top it off, becomes a guard at New York's modernist temple, the Guggenheim. Bosker is an intrepid soul with a talent for penetrating cultural demimondes--first wine in her earlier work, CORK DORK--and now art in GET THE PICTURE. A.D.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2023-11-02
Everything she ever needed to know about art she learned by throwing herself headfirst into the New York scene.
Bosker follows Cork Dork, an investigation of the wine industry, with a similarly delightful inquiry into the art world: immersive reporting along the lines of George Plimpton or Barbara Ehrenreich, with her own blend of relentless curiosity, bottomless energy, and a gift for clever formulations that recalls Oscar Wilde. Bosker began her journey with an internship in a downtown gallery run by a hipster named Jack who "spoke in a low monotone that made him sound as if he were running out of batteries.” Her experiences taught her that “gossip for art people was like echolocation for bats: You sent out signals of what you thought was great or derivative or phony, then oriented yourself based on what came back.” After she and Jack parted ways, Bosker got involved with a pair of gallerists who took her to Miami Art Week, where she continued to refine her ability to see and appreciate the work. Consequently, she discovered that she was an excellent salesperson. She began to appreciate “weird, boundary-pushing art” like that of her next mentor, Mandy AllFIRE, a performance artist and “ass influencer” who sits on people’s faces for “as long as possible.” The author went on to work in the studio of up-and-coming figurative painter Julie Curtiss, who completely transformed her way of seeing. “I’ll just come right out and say it: being around Julie was like being on drugs,” she writes. Bosker also attended a science-of-art conference in Belgium, served as a museum guard at the Guggenheim, and accompanied a pair of collectors known as the Icy Gays on a buying spree. It could not be more fun.
A delightful book on an inspiring topic by a writer who could make dust sparkle.
