Artist Boss
Anthony Caro’s studio assistants
and issues of legacy in British sculpture.
Editor:
Jenny Dunseath
Co editor:
Mark Wilsher
Publisher:
Wunderkammer Press
Publishing date:
1st July 2016
Category:
Art
Binding:
Paperback
Pages:
192
Illustrations:
91 colour and b/w
Size:
170 x 225mm
Price:
£21.99
ISBN:
978-0-9935511-0-9
Available now from:
"Relationships do play a part in my work. When an assistant starts out there is not much of a relationship but this grows as time goes on."
Anthony Caro, 2010
Description:
Artist Boss presents a series of interviews with Anthony Caro’s (1924–2013) studio assistants and critical essays that explore the role of artists’ assistants to raise questions concerning the status of production, originality, authenticity, and authorship within the tradition of twentieth-century British sculpture.
From varied backgrounds, the assistants’ responses illustrate the different ways in which the evolution of sculptural language has been negotiated. Collectively they reflect and offer a range of perspectives on the frequently contentious and widely discussed role of the artist’s assistant and modes of sculptural production.
Based on hours of taped conversations and correspondence with Caro and his assistants, Artist Boss is an intimate interpretation of the artist and his way of working. Those closest to Caro in the studio, speak frankly about what life was like working for the British sculptor to provide immediate access to artists’ thought processes, and examples of a production-led methodology in action.
Essays by Dr Michael Petry, Professor K Patricia Cross and Sam Cornish, subdivide the interview based chapters to explore and expand upon themes raised allowing us to reinsert narratives of production, pedagogy and economics into our understanding of British sculpture, and in doing so, revise present orthodoxy.
The book reveals the context within which Caro worked, how that influenced him and those artists he worked closely with. With original material and unseen images, this first full-length study reveals Caro’s working relationships and provides personal insight into the practice methodologies of sculptors.
Contributors
Forewords by Tim Marlow and Karen Wilkin.
Interviews with Anthony Caro, Guy Martin, James Wolfe, Willard Boepple, André Fauteux, John Gibbons, Jon Isherwood, Shaun Cassidy, Ian Dawson, Beth Cullen-Kerridge, Gavin Morris, Tim Peacock, Hywel Livingstone, Jonathan Gilderleeves, William Fausset, Patrick Cunningham, Olivia Bax, Neil Ayling & John Wallbank.
Essays by Jenny Dunseath and Dr Mark Wilsher, Dr Michael Petry, Professor K Patricia Cross and Sam Cornish.
Overview
This is the first and only extended engagement with Caro – regarded as the ‘greatest sculptor of his generation’ – and his studio assistants.
The overall tone is scholarly yet accessible and it is beautifully illustrated with images, many of which have never previously been published.
It offers first-hand reflective accounts from practitioners to provide new readings and analyses of the lived experience of artists across generations.
The book provides a new unchartered approach on the reading of artistic legacy, creative careers, and sculpture today. It will appeal to artists, academics, students and those interested in any aspect of sculpture, art, pedagogy and oral histories.
The book is available now from Wunderkammer Press and the following suppliers: Waterstones, Foyles, Blackwells, Amazon
Wunderkammer Press
Bath School of Art & Design
Bath Spa University
Sion Hill, Bath BA1 5SF
Email: Carole Enahoro c.enahoro@bathspa.ac.uk
Tel: 01225 876342
Please email c.enahoro@bathspa.ac.uk to be added to the Wunderkammer mailing list.
