9.5 Theses on Art and Class - by Ben Davis (Paperback)

About the Book

Ben Davis draws the curtain back on the contemporary art world to assail its commodified roots.

Book Synopsis

9.5 Theses on Art and Class seeks to show how a clear understanding of class makes sense of what is at stake in a broad number of contemporary art's most persistent debates, from definitions of political art to the troubled status of "outsider" and street art to the question of how we maintain faith in art itself.

Ben Davis currently lives and works in New York City where he is Executive Editor at Artinfo.

Review Quotes

"Just when it seemed that contemporary art writing and the subject of real-life politics had permanently parted ways, along comes the young New York critic Ben Davis with a book that brings them together. No cheerleading here, no swoony prosody, no easy kiss-offs; just smart, ardent, illusion-puncturing observation and analysis on the intersection of art, commerce, and--the elephant in the art-fair VIP lounge--class. None of this would matter much if he didn't tell us why we should care, but he does. Under all his excoriations lies a faith in art as an agent of transformation toward a post-neoliberal, post-greed society that could be, should be."
--Holland Cotter, art critic, New York Times

"Like watching an expert pole-vaulter ply his craft, witnessing this critic reach for first principles in this day and age constitutes its own reward... On 9.5 Theses, the verdict is crystal: This is one helluva pamphlet."
--Christian Viveros-Faune, The Village Voice

"...a riveting manifesto..."
--New York Magazine

"By reminding artists where they really stand, Davis hopes, in the end, to put them on firmer footing, both politically and creatively."
--Dushko Petrovich, BOOKFORUM

"Davis is an intellectually clearheaded critic dishing out some tough truths, often backed up with statistics, to the rarefied 'art world.' . . . The book reframes the production and sale of art in tough terms, which is why the collection's centerpiece, 9.5 Theses on Art and Class, should be required reading for art professionals. In this first book, Davis proves himself a critic to be reckoned with."
--Publishers Weekly

"Written beautifully and for all of us... this book has a high purpose that many attempt and few fulfill. It is a compelling and convincing reminder of why art matters and what's ultimately at stake."
--Mary Louise Schumacher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

"9.5 Theses on Art and Class is the first book I've read by an art critic that spoke to the world I lived and worked in as an artist. Incisive, irreverent, and intellectually fearless. A truth-bomb of a book."
--Molly Crabapple, artist

"Bracing, provocative, exasperated, and good-humored, Davis is skillfully committed to getting the best out of art and art theor --and the world."
--China Miéville, author, The City & The City

"Davis is deeply attuned to contemporary art and the contradictory ways it is expressed and contained within culture more broadly. More than a book of political essays, 9.5 Theses on Art and Class offers a fresh theory that is useful to anyone wrestling with the challenges of what art is or can do."
--Lauren Cornell, curator, New Museum

About the Author

Ben Davis was born in Seattle, Washington. He currently lives and works in New York City where he is Executive Editor at Artinfo.