Crude

by Sally O’Reilly

In a country called Academia, art critic Ida O’Dewey is at the top of her game – until she misjudges the limit between satire and irresponsibility, live on radio. She must retrieve her public reputation and avoid professional extinction, but sources of power and methods of persuasion are never clear-cut. An enigmatic group of radical sensualists, with an occult attraction to a glossy black substance and a deep contempt for mainstream conceptualism, present a possible way out. This stuff called ‘oil’, Ida intuits, could be the perfect subject for a block-busting thesis. Crude relates the non-sequiturs and irrational connections that make up a complex society, where even the most specialised and experienced cannot profess to be in control of their immediate future. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Sally O’reilly is a writer and art critic. She has contributed to Art Monthly, Frieze, Cabinet, Modern Painters and Time Out, and has written catalogue essays for numerous international art exhibitions. Her book The Body in Contemporary Art was published by Thames and Hudson in 2009, and Mark Wallinger by Tate Publishing in 2015. Crude is her first novel. PRAISE FOR CRUDE: In Crude, Sally O’Reilly sets up a relationship between academia and the oil industry. What emerges in this ingenious novel is an ever-expanding exploration of how art historical and literary theory can become embedded within our everyday realities. O’Reilly utilises the double-meanings of its title in order to explore the slippery and sticky underflow of rhetoric, social networks and in-fighting within the art world. The result is a work that oscillates between fiction and reality. Crude is a revelation. — Hans-Ulrich Obrist

328 pages, Paperback

First published October 21, 2016