Synopses & Reviews
The worlds most influential contemporary-art curator explores the history and practice of his craftWhether in London, New York, Zurich, or Beijing, no one in the art world today is more visible or more active than Hans Ulrich Obrist. Since curating his first exhibit in his kitchen at age twenty-three, he has curated more than 250 shows internationally, creating some of the most influential exhibits of our age. There is no one better qualified to write about curation, and in Ways of Curating, he synthesizes his experience and research into the definitive treatise on this practice.
In short, accessible chapters, Obrist traces the history of curation, from the nineteenth-century wunderkammer to the twenty-first century. There are biographical sketches of a panoply of artists and thinkers, including figures as diverse as Sergei Diaghilev, Robert Walser, and Lucy Lippard. Obrist also describes his own trajectory and his idea of the curator as a facilitator between artists and audiences, leading him to discuss his collaborations with modern art luminaries such as Christian Boltanski, Rem Koolhaas, Cy Twombly, Gerhard Richter, Félix González-Torres, and Tino Sehgal.
“Curating” is a major buzzword today, and interest in the concept of curating, in the interaction between audiences and artworks, has never been greater. Ways of Curating is filled with insights for everyone from art professionals and students to casual museumgoers.
Review
Praise for Hans Ulrich Obrist
“One of the most colourful figures in the artworld today . . . Not so much a curator as a human whirlwind.” —Charlotte Higgins, The Guardian
Review
Praise for
Ways of Curating “An engaging and erudite work that argues persuasively for the continued relevance of curating for the arts and wider society.” —Ekow Eshun,
The Guardian Praise for Hans Ulrich Obrist
“One of the most colourful figures in the artworld today . . . Not so much a curator as a human whirlwind.” —Charlotte Higgins, The Guardian
Synopsis
Hans Ulrich Obrist curated his first exhibit in his kitchen when he was twenty-three years old. Since then he has staged more than 250 shows internationally, many of them among the most influential exhibits of our age. Ways of Curating is a compendium of the insights Obrist has gained from his years of extraordinary work in the art world. It skips between centuries and continents, flitting from meetings with the artists who have inspired him (including Gerhard Richter, Louise Bourgeois, and Gilbert and George) to biographies of influential figures such as Diaghilev and Walter Hopps. It describes some of the greatest exhibitions in history, as well as some of the greatest exhibitions never realized. It traces the evolution of the collections from Athanasius Kirchers 17th-century Wunderkammer to modern museums, and points the way for projects yet to come. Hans Ulrich Obrist has rescued the word "curate" from wine stores and playlists to remind us of the power inherent in looking at art—and at the world—in a new way.
About the Author
Hans Ulrich Obrist is a Swiss-born curator and writer. He is the co-director of exhibitions and programs and the co-director of international projects at the Serpentine Galleries, London. His previous books include A Brief History of Curating; A Brief History of New Music; Everything You Always Wanted to Ask About Curating But Were Afraid to Ask; Sharp Tongues, Loose Lips, Open Eyes, Ears to the Ground; Ai Weiwei Speaks, and nearly thirty volumes of his Conversation Series of interviews with contemporary artists.