Poor Artists: A Quest Into the Art World

by Gabrielle de la Puente, Zarina Muhammad

A moving, eye-opening journey through the world of contemporary art from one of the most innovative voices in the field

At a moment in which working as a professional artist is an increasingly unattainable luxury, art criticism duo The White Pube investigate why so many artists try anyway. Labelled “the Diet Prada of the art world” by British Vogue, in Poor Artists writers Gabrielle de la Puente and Zarina Muhammad ridicule a contemporary art world that has turned art into artworks, art schools into art universities, and creative expression into cut-throat competition.

Poor Artists follows aspiring artist Quest Talukdar as she embarks on a surreal journey into the creative industry, where she must decide whether she cares more about success or staying true to herself. Featuring dialogue from anonymous interviews with real people who have all had to ask themselves the same question – including a Turner Prize winner or two, a recluse, a Venice Biennale fraudster, a communist messiah, a ghost, and a literal knight – The White Pube tell the story of art like never before.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Art History, Essays, Cultural, Politics

288 pages, Hardcover

First published October 2, 2024

Reviews

[Gabrielle De · Rating 5 out of 5]

10/10, terrific book!!

[Vartika · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the duo behind The White Pube comes this impassioned, unflinching portrait of what it means to be, and work towards becoming, an artist in contemporary Britain. Based on interviews and structured like a surrealist fable, Poor Artists presents a counterpoint to the pale, male, and stale art establishment by setting up the composite character of Quest Talukdar, a working class woman of colour navigating the challenges of making art without the cushion of wealth or privilege. In her (dare I say) quest to finding her footing on this turpentine-slick slope, she witnesses galleries turning artists into zombies, talks to a Turner Prizewinner or two, commits fraud (or cheapens her work for commercial value), is rescued by a literal knight in his tower, and has a series of unfortunate adventures that couch much-needed lessons about the dysfunctionality of the art world into artful but revelatory metaphors.

What I loved most about this book was how effectively it underlines how the failures of the art world are tied up with the failures of capitalism: from the depletion of community and the emphasis on being over making to the ways in which the commodification of art and its formal dependence on 'public' funding and private patronage forces artists to foreground their identities and fit themselves and their works into narrow, easily-palatable moulds, Poor Artists brilliantly excavates how the mechanics of the art establishment impoverishes artists and stamps out their capacity to meaningfully engage with their creative labours.

Part of Zarina Muhammad and Gabrielle de Puente's approach here is to playfully draw out a political economy of the art world. In this, they focus not merely on how material conditions affect artists, but also on how these material conditions come about and what they hide. They deftly sketch out the more obvious nexus between galleries, collectors, and tastemakers in producing a false logic of scarcity, and point to the less apparent fact of how investment in art often comes from blood money – from aristocrats trying to distract us from their deplorable sources of wealth and from warmongers, arms dealers, and institutions funded by them who protect their interests by dictating the terms of the kind of art that can be made and recognised as such, and by whom.

Though the writing is at times uneven, this is less a fault of the authors and more a facet of the difficulties of distilling complex social and structural barriers into easily-digestable bytes – hence the surrealism. Quest ultimately eschews the commercial art world, moving her focus to community and to making, which is after all what actually drew her to this occupation (in all senses of the word) in the first place. Another character, an artist with a disability, cuts herself out of the art world's voyeuristic appetite for work that they can only interpret in a power dynamic, and never understand.

Those who come looking for answers on what qualifies as 'good' or 'worthy' art will find themselves disappointed, and rightly so, for The White Pube are neither experts nor claiming to be them, and are indeed trying to dismantle the arbitrary allocation of value that allows the industry to function the way it does. The job of Poor Artists (and poor artists) is not to propose a one-fits-all alternative to overbearing systems of oppression or tastemaking, but to allow readers to recognise and disengage from these as a first step. For many who find themselves shunned from this world, this book will present a big leap in that direction.

[Ailbhe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really fun! Really depressing! Really inspiring (last chapter)! Gonna go do some crafts now!

[Bee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Long time white pube follower was exciting to read this. Made a girl with severe me/pots wana make some art again someday! Validated the doom to feeling inspired throughout. Just what I needed to read.

[Līga · Rating 5 out of 5]

patika. varētu lasīt vēlreiz.

[Ruby · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved the structure of this and how it navigated the art world in a way that felt honest, sad, brutal but also hopeful and funny. I think more should be written about how insane it is to go to art school ! ❤️

[Taylor Dewar · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect start to my year.

Funny, surreal and cutting - a masterpiece on being in the art world when you never really feel like you fit

[Lydia · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many pages of my journal have been filled with quotes from this book! It gave me so much more than I was expecting. It gave me new perspectives on how to make ~being an artist~ AKA ~being a person "whose body made the decision a long time ago that art is how [it] will live"~ (if that sounds dramatic, it's because it is! It is at the center of everything for so many people. So much unhappiness could be avoided if people were allowed to just identify as an artist without that identity hinging on material outcomes. I just happen to be an artist. Obviously it sounds grandiose to our ears, but this book proves that's largely because of the way the economy has been engineered) doable - financially and mentally. And I think it all comes down to this: 1. Acknowledge that you are an artist and let yourself hold that truth. It's not good or bad, it just is. And it doesn't have to be very complicated. 2. Realize that art itself is not a product, it is a communication with something. 3. To have communication, you have to commune, which is a practice made of time and space. 4. How we spend our days is how live our lives. 5. Repeat.

Looking at it now that list makes the book seem like it's something akin to Big Magic or the Artist's Way and IT IS NOT THAT. It is so MUCH better, because it is about the reality of putting art at the center of one's life and the reality of not doing that. It is also surreal and fantastical because the systems we live in are so ridiculous. It is also grounded in real interviews, real artists, and real intellectual and logistical barriers. I loved it! More books need to be produced in teams.

[Cherry Dodd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poor artists is single handedly the best art book i have ever read.

As a current art degree finalist, the conversations Zarina and Gabrielle incite are strikingly poinant and encapsulate every fear, worry and thought that has crossed my mind throughout my degree. The terrifying reality that the more you learn about the art world, the less you understand it is presented through Quest Talukadar, a fictional artist invented by the White Pube duo, with raw, unfiltered honesty. They interogate the broken elitist structures that uphold the art world. Their wonderfully wacky storytelling mirrors the real world with such stark realism that the line between fiction and non-fiction blurs into a deliciously engaging read.

A personal highlight for me was the books second chapter,'Lemon' 🍋. The way that a baby's experience of art is articulated through pure intrigue and joy speaks of the impact art has with a loud simplicity.

A must-read for anybody studying or working in the art world.

[Moz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn’t aware this book was fiction, but it wasn’t at the same time; non-non fiction? non-fictionish? Meta fiction?

Either way, it was a really interesting format that I found myself enjoying more as the book went on and left me wanting more.

I have to admit the section near the beginning from the perspective of a baby had me thinking fuck sake ere we go what have I gotten myself into with this, but nah it balanced out and had some heartfelt and inspiring moments from both the interviewees and the fictitious characters.

“I felt buoyed by her, knowing that a buoy only just manages to stay above the water but some of it is always drowning” & “it’s better to be skint and free, rather than a bit better off and suicidal”.

As a self identifying artist with 3 part time jobs, I felt this quotes on a visceral level. I just wish I wasn’t so tired.

[Gaspard_Viril · Rating 3 out of 5]

“eye-opening” is a strong word. I was very confused as to who the public for this book is as it delves into the knitty gritty of art administration and grants, artists’ turmoil with creation and ego and self-perception while also explaining the most obvious elements of art school. This jump took me out of the flow several times. No grudges against the surrealist elements of the plot, the format is actually very enjoyable and engaging.
As an art school graduate, current art worker and emerging artist, none of this book jumped out to me as a revelation. So I guess this book is not necessarily for me? I think it is a wonderful overview of the ups and downs of an aspiring professional artist and it would’ve been a crucial read as a student but I guess only 3 years off the school system were enough to make me blasé as fuck and aware of what this book has to teach.

[Eliza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Equal parts depressing equal parts inspiring. I love crafts!!!

[Meg Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED. honestly i’m so sad i didn’t read this pre graduation/straight after. I’ve never felt so understood. @whitepube please write my masters dissertation for me

[tala · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5 stars

Thank you to Smith Publicity and NetGalley for the ARC!

Poor Artists is a creative non-fiction novel that toes the line between a whirlwind of surrealist storytelling and scathing critique of the art industry. The narrative follows Quest Talukdar, a struggling artist who amassed an audience by creating a fake identity to sell marketable work while contending with the institutional forces that exploit, tokenize and patronize (literally and figuratively) artists.

Many artists are familiar with the serendipitous feeling of looking down at a palette mid-painting and seeing a bizarre ecosystem formed on it. Buttery slabs of paint swirl into psychedelic patterns and strange coral-like forms, mountainous ridges and valleys. Poor Artists is thoughtful and analytical but I can only describe its offbeat vibrant surrealism as traversing that weird and wonderful terrain. It's a splotchy, chaotic and deeply satisfying work.

As a student and artist who loves a bit of magical realism, I enjoyed the strange and whimsical territory the book would slip into. Puente and Mohammed construct bizarre mythologies around characters that seem to have stumbled out of a looking glass, like Mark, the university head who lives in an ever-changing mountain of art supplies and sparkling substances, or the nefarious Art King with his unearthly silver courtiers. The writing style is accessible and lively with a very distinct narrative voice. It was also evident to me that the authors are artists because the way they craft imagery was almost painterly in its richness and detail.

I was both delighted and frustrated by the very chaotic structure. Reading this might give you whiplash but it’s up to you to decide whether that’s a good thing. Things sort of shimmer in and out of existence going from more calm, focused chapters to kaleidoscopic whip-fast scenes that flit by like train tunnel graffiti. Childhood memories melt into the present day into summaries of artwork then cut-and-dry commentary. At first, I thought I would’ve liked to see some of the commentary synthesized into the narrative for a smoother reading experience but on reinspection, I don’t think it would feel like the same book without its fragmentary charm. I liked the brief discussions on different artworks interspersed between plot-heavy chapters because I love discovering interesting art and it was always relevant to the narrative's themes. On the other hand, when the narrative would veer off into memory for a bit too long it created these lulls in my reading experience.

Two parts that really stood out to me were the first chapter and the Art King’s court. The first chapter beautifully frames museums in a child’s eyes. That wondrous experience of being little there and looking at that big painted or constructed or collaged or sculpted something. Framing the entire narrative through the lens of a child at first really highlights the idiosyncrasies and ridiculousness of the art world revealed later in the book. It starts from somewhere fresh and unmarred by knowledge of the industry. But more than anything it just resonated with me. I didn’t look around museums much as a kid but I had my museums in the form of the walls of artwork by upper-year students from years past that I’d gaze in wonder at as a kid. No matter my school, place or age the work my art teachers exhibited in their classrooms occupied a space of reverence in my mind art historians reserved for old masters. I’d look at them, they’d look back. My gaze bored into walls like I was trying to magically make a space appear, a little placeholder for what I was itching to make.

I also really enjoyed The Art King’s Court but wished it had been established earlier. Here the authors frame much of the contemporary art industry as court jestering for people who are, by and large, awful. It’s a very apt way to look at things in an age where the public is even more acutely aware of artwashing, tokenization and censorship. All the ways institutions flatten more radical ideas and celebrate a neoliberal facade of diversity while more sinister things are shoved under gallery floorboards. Artists are not lords and ladies who can somehow end up on the throne and seize the narrative completely for themselves. Often there’s a performance, a sanitized spectacle, protest is laughable and the artist is always a clown when their work is refracted through the lens of an oppressive force.

[Gagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came across Poor Artists as I perused through the bookshelves of Brick Lane Bookshop. It wasn’t hard to miss - a fluorescent cover with the words “the white pube” scrawled across it was hardly trying to go unseen - but I’m so very glad it caught my attention. As a creative soul who is constantly preoccupied by how capitalism threatens true artistic expression, I was immediately sold on the book’s premise. What I didn’t expect was how witty and charming the writing would be.

As I eagerly cracked the book open over dinner that same night, I started reading “Lemon”, which might be one of the best opening chapters I’ve ever read. By taking on the narrative of a baby experiencing artwork for the first time, and likening it to their experience of trying a lemon, Zarina and Gabrielle immediately demonstrate that this won’t simply be a series of essays, interviews, and think-pieces. This would be a creative voyage drawing upon humour, satire, hyperbole, anecdote, fact, and fiction to explore the complexities of the art industry and of our perception of art as a whole.

Throughout the book, they expose the exploitative institutions that exist in the art world, and do not hesitate to share bleak statistics around the stark financial realities for many artists. However, the impact of this is far from superficial. They demonstrate how the looming figure of capitalism contaminates the kind of art people create - Quest makes “neon shit” that sells easily, people make reels of paint pots with holes in them spinning over a large canvas because… ASMR, right? It contaminates the process of art where the thought of its perception inhibits pure artistic expression.

A chapter that deals with this complexity incredibly well is “Valentine” which introduces a character who lives in solitude making art, depriving his work of another’s gaze or opinion. While extreme, the endeavour for creation in solitude begs the question of what our art would look like if we deprive ourselves of the expectation of it needing to be realised to exist. This is dealt with again in the penultimate chapter, “Mum”: “I think it is sad that art only assumes value when it is tied to display. It’s like everyone needs to be doing art in view of the public, and the online public, for it to count.”

While the book doesn’t explicitly propose solutions to the institutions responsible for creating such a dire ecosystem for the artist, these contemplations around art, the process, the role of the consumer in its creation, and more can encourage internal revolutions that, at the very least, enable one to prioritise one’s sense of expression and autonomy.

I’d highly recommend giving Poor Artists a read. It was truly laugh out loud funny, gut wrenchingly painful, and incredibly thought provoking and I’m looking forward to seeing what more this incredible duo get up to in the future.

[Heather Mew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poor Artists is one of the best things I have read in a long time. Based on around 30 interviews and the authors’ own experiences, the book follows fictional character Quest Talukdar as she navigates being a working-class Muslim artist. The narrative is surreal - a particular favourite chapter involves long-dead French painter and Paris communard, Gustave Courbet, driving an uber around Hyde Park - but it was easy to lean into the bizarrity, in part because of the witty writing. Poor Artists is a critique of the ‘art world’ and capitalism, and despite the heartbreaking and fury-inducing moments, I felt a sense of inspiration and hopefulness throughout much of the book. It approached theory without being either too academic or too watered-down, helped by the optional footnotes and humorous tone, and as someone who knows almost nothing about art and the ‘art world’, my hand was held just enough without feeling patronising.

Poor Artists was a joy to read, and has left me feeling inspired both about making art for arts sake, and for considering other ways of being under capitalism. A must read.

[Hanae · Rating 4 out of 5]

erudite and grounded investigation into the material ($) realities of art and who gets to make a living of it - and the complicated relationships working class artists necessarily form with structures of $$$$ and power and how it can shape their practice, muddy the experience of reading and interpreting it because it is refracted through these systems.

sorry typed that in one go not going to grammar check

the book is playfully written half non fiction and half surreal, anything-goes magical realism and fiction, all in service of uncovering truth!!!!

i am a fan of such an approach to understanding the realities of life paths and also of writing with a choiceful and genre fluid approach. i hope zarina and gabby write more books and get sooooo many royalties because they have carved out a truly special artwriting platform (the white pube) that speaks and listens and questions in equal parts

[Aleks · Rating 5 out of 5]

"embarrassment is a texture we should always try to embellish our work with"

This book was a ride.

What it means to be an artist? What does the world think being an artist means?

I went in thinking I wanted to be an artist and left with the opposite feeling and never wanting to step foot into a gallery..

As a person who never studied art or doesn't necessarily want to be an artist I still resonated with most of what has been said in these 300 pages of commentary about the art world in Britain but the world in general.

I particularly enjoyed the mix of fiction, facts that happened, general knowledge about art and concepts explained, artist named and just endless complaint that in the end opens the up to some sort of hope.

Warning: there's a chance you won't desire to become an artist anymore and you will hate capitalism even more

[Eleanore Frances · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Once upon a time, I believed the ladder was real. But the ladder was simply an image of a way out created by zombies who knew they could capitalise on our all-nighter joy. They understood full well the conditions did not allow poor artists to thrive, and they knew we had nowhere to run”
_

Having followed The White Pube for years now, I was thrilled to get my hands on their first book, Poor Artists. It’s a raw, pointed series of vignettes, each one exposing the trials and tribulations that British artists face today. Gabrielle and Zarina hold a mirror up to the current state of the arts and culture sector, and the reflection staring back is not a pretty one.

The book takes an unflinching look at so many of the hurdles that artists encounter: the relentless funding cycle that requires work to bend itself to fit narrow funding criteria; the question of where artists are meant to find the money to create work that falls outside these public funding structures; debates around what qualifies as “good” art in today’s landscape; and the role galleries play in shaping what ultimately becomes the nation’s accepted “understanding” of art. The questions raised are painfully relevant for anyone working in the arts and culture sector.

While I’m not a visual artist myself (though I do dabble in the occasional cross-stitch), Poor Artists hit home. The book’s reflections on what it means to be a creative in Britain today feel universally relevant, touching on the experiences of nearly everyone I know who’s trying to work within the arts; be it as a visual artist, filmmaker, writer, or theatre maker. In particular, the sections that address the unique struggles of creating while self-employed and chronically ill struck a personal chord. There’s something profoundly validating about realising you’re not alone on this relentless uphill path.

The book is packed with theory, which I’ll admit felt a little dense at times, but I think that’s probably down to my perspective as someone outside the visual arts. There’s a certain weight and complexity to The White Pube’s arguments that I don’t think Gabrielle and Zarina could have simplified without sacrificing the essence of what they’re trying to say. In that sense, it feels less like a shortcoming of the book and more of a reflection of the integrity with which they approach this topic.

Poor Artists is an essential read for anyone navigating or simply observing the creative industries in Britain today. It’s cathartic, insightful, and, perhaps most importantly, unapologetically honest: a work that feels like a lifeline for artists everywhere who are grappling with the impossible task of sustaining themselves and their art in a system that feels indifferent.
I’ll end this review with one of my favourite quotes from this gorgeous book:
“All artists are worthy, even if nobody has written about them, even if they don’t want to be written about”


Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am mad I didn’t read this when I got it a year ago. It is wonderful. It makes me more mad, scared and bewildered by the art world, art school. I want my mum to read it especially, and also everyone I know. You can’t quite describe it and you just have to go along with it sometimes. If I had the time I’d have read this in one day.
Lots of second hand embarrassment, and the discussion of vanity shows is hilarious awful (as someone who’s collective did one). But I liked ours. So many other vanity shows are the same kind of people and it is really rather depressing.
Regardless, they should make it the book you read after Ways of Seeing.

[Kelly Gibbons · Rating 5 out of 5]

my phone is now full of photos from quotes I really liked and wanted to write up in my journal and think about more.

This was brilliant, written in such a fun and accessible way about art theory and history and so much more. I got my copy from the library but now want to buy my own just to have it for reference and for an artistic boost. I love reading writing from working class writers it is always so validating and this felt like a hug.

[Helena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ultimately, this book is a 320 page manifesto on the political compass question “is the business man more important than the artist.”

A thoughtful, worthwhile and politically driven discussion on the place of art and artists within a capitalistic society. Discussing ideas surrounding how we value art, and those who create it, both culturally and monetarily. If society acknowledges the cultural value of art how does a capitalistic society support the artist - how do we nurture the next Monet if society has forced them to only care about money.

[Nina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun read, especially if you have been born so late that cynicism is your lifeline because all the hopes have been eaten up by previous generations. Between the humour and the surrealism, there is a biting sharp critique of the art world and the system, founded in art, philosophy and theory as much as in hands-on experience.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, heartbreaking and true in the way only fictionalised non-fiction can be. Truthier than truth, this somehow puts to words all the feelings about being an artist I’ve never been able to put into words. I’m so grateful this exists.

[Amrit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Articulated all the things I love and hate about being an artist grappling with the current landscape of the art world! Made me laugh, even made me shed a tear or two but most importantly it has made me wanna start making again after a long old time of being disillusioned by the art world and for that, I thank you Gabrielle and Zarina <3

[Lucinda Strol · Rating 4 out of 5]

wow this book rlly ruined my outlook on art as a career 🫣 so many facts and points were made and it’s a very untraditional / gen z writing style that i do not know if i could get behind at all times. overall so creative and made me ponder a lot

[beyond_blue_reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bonkers, hilarious, audacious, deadly serious, meta, surreal, gamey and full of all the grimy truths anyone who works in the art world knows (but are too afraid to say). Am obsessed with these two - their ideas, their balls, and their friendship.

[tanisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

i enjoyed this quite a lot even though it took me a fair amount of time to finish. draws a somewhat clear distinction between being an artist and making art, and how the two don’t overlap quite often in today’s world — last chapter depressing but inspiring

[Hannah]

really wanted to like this but just didn’t, the blend of creative/non-fiction didn’t work for me. i wish it had taken one or both more seriously.

love the white pube! love your art criticism that doesn’t read like a PEE paragraph 🙏

[Rosie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up I rly enjoyed this 🌟