Forms of Enchantment: Writings on Art & Artists

by Marina Warner

An anthology of compelling essays by Marina Warner, one of our pre-eminent writers and critics.

Art-writing at its most useful should share the dynamism, fluidity and passions of the objects of its enquiry, argues Marina Warner. In this new anthology of some of her most compelling work, she captures the visual experience of the work of several artists – with a notable focus on the inner lives of women – through an exploration of the range of stories and symbols to which they allude. Metamorphosis features vividly in the imagery, stories and media of the art that Warner has chosen to write about: in connection with animals in the work of Louise Bourgeois, for instance; with the Catholicism of Damien Hirst; and with performance as a medium of memory and resistance in the installations of Joan Jonas.

Rather than drawing on connoisseurship, the author’s approach grows principally out of anthropology and mythology. She argues that art and aesthetics increasingly fulfil a magical social function – a principle that runs through these writings to give the collection a quality that is polemical as well as coherent. With an introductory essay and illustrations throughout, Marina Warner investigates how artists noted for their treatment of disturbing, uncanny material have reached beyond the visible, to express interior states. Truly inspiring, her writing unites the imagination of artist, writer and reader, creating a reading experience parallel to the intrinsic pleasure of looking at art.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Essays, Literary Criticism

288 pages, Paperback

First published September 13, 2018

About the author

Marina Sarah Warner is a British novelist, short story writer, historian and mythographer. She is known for her many non-fiction books relating to feminism and myth.

She is a professor in the Department of Literature, Film and Theatre at the University of Essex, and gave the Reith Lectures on the BBC in 1994 on the theme of 'Managing Monsters: Six Myths of Our Time.'

Reviews

[Antonia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and informative, but mostly reads like a chat gpt written exhibition catalogue

[A. J · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The artist's quest is a form of pilgrimage..."
Myth and childhood, dreams and desires, the unveiling of artists. Marina Warner's book was a revelation for me in many ways. I decided to pick up this book after being introduced to Warner in a Literature and Gender class. I watched her talk at Google and was fascinated by her vast knowledge of stories and old wives tales. So I went poking around my school's library to find works by Warner and this is the book I found.
Reading Forms of Enchantment gave me a greater appreciation for the analysis of art. The way that Warner looks at art and artists is inspiring. She gets to the heart of artistic work and pulls together related works to form a narrative of enchantment. Reading her book truly felt like stepping into a different world, one where artistic vision equaled magic. A lot of these artists I had never heard of and I loved that reading this book gave me so many people to look into.
I would highly recommend Warner's book to you all if you enjoy reading about art. I gave the book four stars on Goodreads.

[Ruth Brumby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliantly explaining a great deal of art theory in simple terms and linked to particular examples. Lovely use of myth and word study. Well written. A good choice and understanding of artists. Well structured in themes. Managing to see art as recuperative and hopeful in bad times.
Stressing the importance of art making you think but not giving a solution, of ambivalence and the combination of reason and imagination through making.

[RITA · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sadly very disappointed with this book. After reading several books mixing art history with essay (mainly from a feminist perspective), and discovering many amazing artists, this was painful. The writing comes of as very presumptuous - you either know the references, or the writer does absolutely nothing to help you understand her point. This isn't helped by the fact that there are so few images illustrating the text. I usually do a lot of googling, to complement the research, but some of the references were so obscure and without not even a title to help (just "this painting where this happens"), with absolutely no image, that I couldn't find anything online. When you know the artist well the text brings absolutely nothing new to the discussion, and when you don't know you are left in the dark, with nothing to absorb.
It has been a while since I stopped reading a book before reaching the end. Very sad, as I think I'm very much the target audience for this type of books.

[Ruby · Rating 4 out of 5]

took me an embarrassingly long time to read. it sometimes felt impossible to get in the headspace for. at times it reads as impossibly dense and lacklustre but when it’s good, it’s fabulous and heart-opening and pleasingly informative. the chapters on kiki smith and jumana emil abboud are especially good, but perhaps that’s because i felt their art leap off the page and run straight towards me. the interweaving of myth and fable and fairytale is what makes this sparkle.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wouldn't it be wonderful if this were published with all the images described? I personally found some of the essays fascinating, while others didn't interest me as much, so those I just skimmed till I got to another good one.

[Caroline]

Brilliant look at artists and their relationship to myths and enchantment

[Anna Toher]

Heillandi texti og ljóðræn skrif um listamenn og myndlist. Töfrandi áhrif myndlistar og dulúð er dregið fram í dagsljósið.