Farah Nayeri addresses the difficult questions plaguing the art world, from the bad habits of Old Masters, to the current grappling with identity politics.
For centuries, art censorship has been a top-down phenomenon--kings, popes, and one-party states decided what was considered obscene, blasphemous, or politically deviant in art.
Today, censorship can also happen from the bottom-up, thanks to calls to action from organizers and social media campaigns. Artists and artworks are routinely taken to task for their insensitivity. In this new world order, artists, critics, philanthropists, galleries, and museums alike are recalibrating their efforts to increase the visibility of marginalized voices and respond to the people's demands for better ethics in art.
But what should we, the people, do with this newfound power?
With exclusive interviews with Nan Goldin, Sam Durant, Faith Ringgold, and others, Nayeri tackles wide-ranging issues including sex, religion, gender, ethics, animal rights, and race.
By asking and answering questions such as: Who gets to make art and who owns it? How do we correct the inequities of the past? What does authenticity, exploitation, and appropriation mean in art? Takedown provides the necessary tools to navigate the art world.
This is a really approachable cultural history of power in the art world—who was able to create art, fund art, and view art. Nayeri's tone is inquisitive, conversational, and warm. I think this was essential to my enjoyment, since many art tomes seem intimidating and use complex verbiage that even as someone who studied art and art history, I easily get sick of. This book always kept me engaged and intrigued.
Her insider knowledge and perspective was great, and allowed her to speak to many of the artists and gallery owners whose stories were featured in this book. These primary sources really enriched Nayeri's narrative and offered a space for artists to reflect on events that had sometimes occurred many years ago. I had learned about some of these controversies before, but it was great to read a new perspective (sometimes from the artist themselves!).
If you're at all interested in the art world, definitely check this one out! Thanks to Astra House Books for providing me with an advanced copy.
with all the depth and research of a new york times article, this is a very shallow cultural history of contemporary art. i think if you know very little about contemporary art history and want an introduction to a lot of the scandals, it's a pretty good primer. ultimately though, it fails to grasp the nuance of a lot of these and reads as the centrist take on the art world.
in short, not all bad, but certainly not as good as i'd originally hoped.
Bien documentado y con un estilo ameno, Farah Nayeri nos sumerge en el mundo del arte y las crisis actuales (y no tan actuales) en relación con la censura.
Lejos de tener un tono aleccionador, este recuento de eventos se nutre de la perspectiva de las personas involucradas y ofrece una amplia variedad de enfoques de estudio para una época en la que los medios digitales son el altavoz predilecto para hacer llamados a la acción. La dualidad moral de esta nueva herramienta está influyendo en lo que vemos en los museos y lo que es actualmente denominado "arte".
A fascinating book that covered a lot of movement in the art world that I was unaware of until this point. I was taken with this book initially because of the absolutely stunning cover and what I thought was going to be about how art was combating power structures in the digital age. However, it appears I was somewhat misled by the blurb on the back cover as this book was really about the shifts in outrage over artworks over time and the impacts and drawbacks to the "outrage culture" we find ourselves in today.
Nayeri begins the book by offering some historical case studies, including reformation and counter reformation movement's impacts on art in Europe, such as the "bonfire of the vanities" which took place in Florence in the post-renaissance era. Nayeri then spends a chapter on women underrepresentation and POC underrepresentation in art, in what I think in retrospect is an attempt to lay the groundwork for an argument that the changes that are being asked for today are needed and necessary. However, I found Nayeri's breeze-through tour of a millennium of counter-art movements a tad simplistic, and at times I found myself questioning her analysis of cultural events because the conclusions were rather reductive.
Nayeri then transitions to a few chapters outlining the current shifts in art censorship to the modern age--religious outrage in the 70s and 80s over such artworks as "Piss Christ", shifting into critiques of who can produce what artwork, the beginnings of critiques over corporate sponsorships of art, and the development of "callout culture" against individual curators and gallerists.
However, Nayeri unfortunately never offers a unifying theory of our current zeitgeist. Takedown is an excellent literature review, but I found myself yearning for her thoughts on what unifies this moment and unfortunately never got it. Nayeri is clearly incredibly intelligent, but never performs synthesis to a degree that is useful for the lay reader in Takedown .
Where Nayeri shines is offering a sensible middle path to current debates. Especially in the final chapters, she seems to decry the lack of engagement with controversial art that drives a lot of the outrage around certain modern art pieces.
Overall, I found the book an interesting read, but wished Nayeri had gone further to help the lay reader synthesize her various examples.
The benefit of reading several books at the same time seems to be that my mind can naturally bounce between books whenever I’m in the mood for something else. The problem is it takes me 6x longer to finish anything.
Anyways, this one of several books I’ve been reading recently, and I really enjoyed it! It’s a very engaging and easy to follow look at some of the big shakeups in the art world over the past few decades, mainly focusing on topics like digital media, reactions to big cultural upheavals, and the ease of praise/critique of art through online platforms like social media. I’m not very well-versed in traditional art, but contemporary art (digital media/art especially) are really in my wheelhouse, and it was interesting to learn more about works and artists I’ve heard about. I also really enjoyed learning more about works and artists I haven’t heard about. One area of critique I saw in reviews of this book was that Nayeri isn’t really making claims or firm points about any of the works, artists, or controversies she covers. To a certain extent, I can acknowledge that she doesn’t seem to take a very firm stance on some of the topics she writes about. Generally, this reads more like a research paper or informative essay than an op-ed or anything like that. That isn’t to say she makes no claims, though. I think a lot of the ideas she presents are important and are made very clear by the topics she writes about. But, I will say that the title is a little misleading about what topics she covers. This was written a few years back, so I definitely understand why some of the topics were covered or weren’t included (I think AI would be very important to bring up in a book like this, but it’s never mentioned). However, I feel like it doesn’t always tie in the idea of “the Digital Age” to these topics. The later chapters focus on it more, but it would’ve been interesting to read more about it throughout the book.
Overall though, this reads as a great introduction or reintroduction to topics like modern art controversies, the power and struggles of art museums, and how social media and other digital platforms can greatly influence the world of art.
I just finished a course on inclusiveness by ICOM (international museum association), and doing a course on women in art from 1900-now. Both already touched on some elements in this book, but Farah really got into it. It was fascinating to hear more about the different types of censorship in the past, and how social media has given a voice to the masses. I think it's very difficult on how to deal with art made by problematic people, can you still love it? I thought one of the examples on the Gauguin exhibit was very interesting, how you can show art by a problematic man, but also inform the viewer on him as a person and what the issues are/were. I think more context should be given in a lot of museums. I think this book is interesting for both people who love art, and don't know that much about it.
This was a really interesting look at the change from political censorship in the US in the 1980s to crowd-sourced/public takes on art in the times of #MeToo, Black Lives Matter and more. Of particular interest were the new look at Paul Gauguin, and how the NEA funding cuts compared to museums turning away from the Sackler name in a masse in light of the opioid crisis. Like the events of BLM, social media helped shed a larger light on the issues that didn't exist in the time of past crises.
The title and cover art for this book on "art and power" is a bit misleading. At least I was expecting something that dove in to the complexity of cancel culture when it comes to the art world. That topic is addressed in the last couple of chapters, after going through some basic contextualizing for the bulk of the book. What this quick read does before then is provide an overview of art controversies, starting with an erotic art show 1969 show in LA that resulted in obscenity charges, and doubling back to Paleolithic art and religiously driven attacks on art through the ages. Nayeri reminds us that women, POC and LGBTQ artists have had struggles with representation in the canon. We can never hear that too much, but you'd figure the audience is aware of this. She calls out a greatest hits list of situations-- Dana Schutz's Emmett Till painting, Andres Serrano's "Piss Christ", Chris Offili's elephant dung problem, and David Wojnarowicz's multiple bruhahas with public funding. Richard Serra's Tilted Arc controversy, relayed here as an example of public art's pitfalls, is an old chestnut at this point. It's always nice to be reminded of these, though there not news to those who follow contemporary art. The latter chapters deal with the kinds of takedowns that are part of more recent dialog--calling out dubious funders (the Sacklers, BP), and the positive and negative effects of social media call outs. What makes the book readable, but also disappointing, is that Nayeri is a NY Times arts and culture reporter. She brings us the facts, but not so much an analysis. Granted, we're in a the midst of a massive reordering of the art world hegemony-- she writes that it has yet to find its equilibrium--but there are more nuances to be explored. In the case of Schutz, for example, what was the role of the curators including the work in the Whitney Biennial-- the artist faces the controversy, though the institution made the choice, just like the bigwigs that green lit public irking shows at Versailles. It is all important material, just know what you'll be getting here, which is mostly a snapshot of the field with some historical context.
Who *should* and *does* decide what is vulgar or profane, provocative or obscene? How do we have a civilized discussion when #everythingispolitical without one or both sides fearing that everything will get torn down or face today's digital censorship by getting cancelled or destroyed?
On the one side, everyone can agree it's high time to open the canon to include and expand what should be exalted as high/beautiful/celebrated/remunerated art. But who decides who can tell which stories and which depictions produce "art?"
-Gaugin's fetishization of 13/14 yo Tahitian girls -Mapplethorpe's depiction of sadomasochism in XYZ -Balthasar Klossowski's depiction of half undressed children
What about Dana Shutz, a white woman's depiction of Emmett Till in Open Casket? Who has the right to tell and depict these stories and to profit from it? Should her art work be taken down? Destroyed because it was not produced by a Black person though the level of artistry is apparent? Should there be a capped limit on how much she can sell her artwork for?
Or Serrano's depiction of Jesus on a cross, swimming in urine in Piss Christ?
Or Ofilis depiction of Black Virgin Mary with elephant dung for a breast?
Who decides? Does the gallery need only defend it? The grantors who funded? Does it matter if local taxes are being used to fund the piece in question?
I think that Nayeri accomplished what she set out to do, which was to explore the ramifications and thought debates as it relates to art in the wake of #metoo and #cancelculture and I thought it was completely captivating.
If you're interested in the societal function of art, how it can fit into our political discussions, and how it has fit in political discussions across centuries, then this is certainly a book for you.
I really enjoyed this book, which examines the art world and the power dynamics at play within the industry. The rapidly changing landscape has, over the last few years, led to some memorable events where shows have come under attack, and artists have come under scrutiny.
It's a really good read, exploring the palatable, the unpalatable, and how the industry as a whole has been impacted in the wake of movements like Black Lives Matter and #MeToo. There's been a remarkable amount of change with regard to questions of equality and justice, and it's incredible to see how far the art and museum sectors have come.
I really liked how the author, New York Times journalist and culture writer Farah Nayeri, has put her own judgment on the table and shared her experiences and assessments. It’s fascinating to see how we accept and digest different art and artists depending on the context and the circumstances, and this is exactly what this book does.
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Between the tone and the author's constant self-insertion ("to learn more, I read a book" or "I went and interviewed so and so" - yes, we know, it's called research for a book), I found it hard to enjoy this much. Add to it that I come with more than a basic knowledge of the topic matter, especially some of the pieces she mentions that have come under attack, and I didn't really get a lot out of reading it.
I also felt that she is a bit naive in thinking that treatment of women, those who do not identify as straight, and people of color has gotten better. I had to check the copyright date twice when she expressed that things have improved. Published in 2022, it is hard to believe that there has been significant improvement in the art world when the rest of the world hasn't been exactly supportive and welcoming, especially in the U.S. where a significant portion of this book is centered.
The book is not without value, and I think I would recommend it to someone who wanted to learn about relatively current events in modern art. But then again, I think I would be more apt to suggest picking up some issues of Artforum.
This is not a "bad" book. It is just aggressively mediocre which is more offensive to me than being bad and it has immediately gone into my unhaul pile. Nayeri says nothing and argues nothing despite the almost provocative title. Despite claiming that "Nayeri tackles wide-ranging issues including sex, religion, gender, ethics, animal rights, and race" she tackles nothing. She rights about these issues the way AI summarizes searches on google when this was published in 2022. I should have known when I saw the page count.
This did feel very much like an optimistic 2022 read which did make me realize how shit times are now. Would love an updated perceptive now that "woke culture" seems obsolete; I will be keeping an eye out for Nayeri's current writings. Very much a british/euro take on art culture and censorship, as if America is not the center of the universe???
If you're interested in art in any way, would very much recommend this! Good high level/introducatory view of different way censorship has played a role in the art world without getting too in the weeds
I particularly enjoyed Nayeri's art history stories. Also, her ability to contextualize social change from her journalistic perspective as a passive observer of the art industry - seeing it as her job to write about what was happening, not critique the decision makers about what was not ... only later realizing the responsibility in such a gatekeeper role.
Succinct summary about how artworks have been the subject of defacement and criticism throughout history, through the lens of representation in race/gender, imagery based in religion, and influence from corrupt sources. Nayeri poses the question-- to what extent should the individual have the freedom to declare artworks to be inappropriate in today's digital age?
Thorougly enjoyed this one -- very well organized and an easy read that deals with complicated ideas. I appreciate that it focused primarily on present day but still gave us the context of the 80s and 90s. Would recommend.
A terrific overview about the hazards that artists abs curators face when navigating backlash, the fight for inclusivity in the visual arts, and the way that individual artworks can reflect- and also fall victim to - cultural shifts and unpredictable backlash.
A very approachable look into art history through the framing of modern art criticism, and the new mediums that criticism is taking place. Forcing the reader to reconsider the notion of how art is funded, conceived and preserved.
Really at 3.5. While this gives a good overview of scandals/issues in the art world and with the digital age of viewership and engagement, it has the energy of diving deep without really doing so. Some great points and opinions and some bland/non-nuanced ones throughout, this feels like a good stepping stone between just starting to explore the world of art and getting entrenched in it.
Farah Nayeri's Takedown made me realize that the world of art dealing and museums exists in a separate space from mine. Regrettably working in STEM, I always thought of the humanities as wholesome and healing. I dedicate myself to them in my free time, after all, and so thought myself pretty well-versed in art history, if an amateur still. This little book was an eye-opener. Meaning that I'm glad I don't have anything to do with professional art journalism and museum curators.
As many other "industries", art trade is a minefield of corruption, and always has been. The issues Nayeri addresses concern a variety of topics: for example (briefly) art censorship over the course of history, the influence of newly emerged social media on public opinion, artistic representation in times of social justice efforts, or - most interestingly for me personally, as I had never considered there being such a problem - the ethical funding of art. All extensive subjects, which are analysed through a handful of examples each.
I missed at least a mention of online art communities and the literal censorship of artistic nudity on platforms such as instagram. Not to mention website algorithms and how they "silence" artists who do not produce a continuous flow of so-called content. But perhaps that is an issue for another book.
Had this been written in a less detached, matter-off-factly manner, less highlighting of the author's own achievements in the art world, I would have gone through the book much faster. As it is, I think readers who themselves study the arts will appreciate Nayeri's insight into the dark side of les beaux arts and what we consider artistic freedom.
**I received a digital copy from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.***