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Good Life Project

Jerry Saltz | How Art Changes Us (and is being changed by us)

Good Life Project

Jonathan Fields / Acast

Education, Wellness, Self-improvement, Midlife, Health & Fitness, Intentional Living, Personal Growth, Living Well, How To

4.5 • 3.4K Ratings

🗓️ 24 October 2022

⏱️ 63 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Imagine working as an artist for a decade only to burn out, melt down, and vanish from that world to spend 10 years driving a truck. Then, having never written before the age of 40, returning to that same world, but this time as an art critic for some of the biggest magazines and arbiters of taste in that domain. Having never been formally trained or degreed or even studied art in a formal way. How is that even possible? 


That is the story of today’s guest, Jerry Saltz, the senior art critic at New York magazine and Vulture, and the author of the New York Times bestseller How to Be an Artist. In his most recent book Art Is Life, Jerry draws on two decades of work to offer a real-time survey of contemporary art as a barometer of our times, arguing for the importance of the fearless artist—reminding us that art is a kind of channeled voice of human experience, a necessary window onto our times. The result is an openhearted and irresistibly readable appraisal by one of our most important cultural observers.


You can find Jerry at: New York Magazine | Instagram


If you LOVED this episode you’ll also love the conversations we had with Maria Garcia about the art of performance and how it can change millions of lives.


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Transcript

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0:00.0

Art echoes out into every other thing in many ways art was here before we were.

0:06.9

Art is a creative force that's using all of us to reproduce itself.

0:13.6

And as it reproduces itself, it changes us.

0:17.3

So I guess I should end this podcast right now to say,

0:20.5

it's all so good. Just get to work, you big babies.

0:24.0

So imagine working as an artist for over a decade or so,

0:29.9

only to burn out, melt down and largely vanish from that world,

0:33.4

to spend 10 years driving a truck.

0:36.4

And then having never written before the age of 40,

0:39.2

somehow being inspired to return to that very same world,

0:42.0

but this time not as a working artist,

0:44.4

but as an art critic for some of the biggest magazines and arbiters of taste in that world.

0:51.3

Having never been formally trained or degreeed or even studied art in a form away,

0:55.4

how is this even possible?

0:57.6

Well that is the story of my guest today, Jerry Salis.

1:01.6

The senior art critic at New York Magazine and Vulture and the author of New York Times best

1:05.6

seller, How to Be an Artist, and his most recent book, Art is Life.

1:09.5

In 2018, Jerry was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.

1:12.8

He's a frequent guest lecturer at major universities and museums.

1:16.2

He's spoken everywhere from Harvard, MoMA, Guggenheim to Columbia University, Yale,

1:20.3

RISD, so many different places.

1:22.3

Jerry is one of our most watched writers about art and art.

...

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