Publishers Weekly
03/20/2023
In this stimulating entry, Gompertz (What Are You Looking At?), the artistic director of London’s Barbican Centre, examines the ways artists use their powers of perception to “see the world afresh” and help others do the same. Nineteenth-century English landscape painter John Constable used an “empirical” attention to nature to paint meticulously detailed, six-foot-tall cloudscapes that let viewers “see what was in plain sight but routinely overlooked.” And after Frida Kahlo was injured in a streetcar accident at 18 that left her with lifelong health problems, she harnessed her pain in dramatic self portraits that “bar her soul with brushstrokes rather than a pen.” Meanwhile, after contemporary painter Jennifer Packer observed the conspicuous absence of Black people in paintings in contemporary museums, she took it as an “intellectual provocation” to weave a recurring theme of partial disappearance into her own work (she depicts figures that “fade in and out of view like a small boat on a high sea”). Gompertz combines accessible discussions of artistic technique with an appealing enthusiasm, rendering entries vivid and thought-provoking. Artists and art lovers alike will be delighted. (Apr.)
Sir Nicholas Serota
"He is a natural communicator whose passion for art is expressed with wit and verve.
The Guardian
"Will Gompertz is the best teacher you never had."
Booklist
"Thorough and diverse...Gompertz’s illuminations of artists' lives and minds are accessible and full of valuable information. This is an exhilarating resource for personal growth, a consciousness-raising exploration for artists and art lovers, and an asset for anyone interested in the who, what, and why of great artworks."
The Scotsman
"Lively, fresh, energetic. He explains movements and ‘isms’ with clarity and humor.
The Times (London)
"Gompertz doesn't have it in him to be boring."
Associated Press
Gompertz has an uncanny knack for making difficult art (and ideas) easy."
Independent on Sunday (London)
"Hugely accessible. He writes about difficult things without letting on that they are difficult.
The Daily Telegraph
Richly detailed and highly entertaining.
From the Publisher
Praise for Will Gompertz:
Library Journal
12/01/2022
Former BBC News arts editor Gompertz (What Are You Looking At?; Think Like an Artist) insightfully explores the processes and personalities of a remarkable roster of artists by focusing on a single work in each one's portfolios in his illuminating title. Not limiting himself geographically, historically, or culturally, Gompertz places artworks from artists as disparate as 11th-century Chinese landscape ink brush artist Guo Xi, award-winning Ghanian sculptor El Anatsui, Western United States earth artist James Turrell, Japanese pop designer Yayoi Kusama, and NYC silhouette artist Jennifer Packer alongside unusual pieces from the usual legends O'Keeffe, Constable, Hockney, Cézanne, Noguchi, Basquiat, and Kahlo as the book develops its cohesive thesis that art is a fruitful conduit to "seeing the world afresh." VERDICT Twenty-five crisp chapters on 25 separate artists allow Gompertz the room to explore both detail and concept in this well-organized labor of love. His first-person perspective places the historical artworks in the present while making all the artwork immediate and relevant. Effortless prose and laser focus on the communicative potential of art make this a worthwhile read for students, professionals, or interested observers.—James Woods Marshall
