Six Drawing Lessons by William Kentridge

Six Drawing Lessons by William Kentridge

Art, William Kentridge says, is its own form of knowledge. It does not simply supplement the real world, and cannot be purely understood in the rational terms of academic disciplines. The studio is where linear thinking is abandoned and the material processes of the eye, the hand, the charcoal and paper become themselves the guides of creativity.

[This] is an enlightening, circuitous, and self-reflexive performance that delves into [Kentridge’s] greatest obsessions in the realms of art, politics, history, and image-making… Kentridge discusses topics including Plato’s cave allegory (a subject that looms over much, if not all, of the book), Africa’s colonies, and the violence of the EnlightenmentHe delivers sharp insights into the history and character of Johannesburg; his memories from growing up under apartheid provide some of the book’s most lucid moments. He also elaborates upon life in the art studio (a ‘safe space for stupidity’)… Time—including how it affects work in the studio—and memory are also major themes. The argument here is really an anti-argument; Kentridge emphasizes the need to occupy the gap between certainty and uncertainty, and stresses ‘being aware of the limits of seeing,’ and ‘our own limits of understanding, the limits of our memory, but prodding the memory nonetheless.’… This is an essential book for anybody seeking a better understanding of Kentridge’s work. * Publishers Weekly *
Anyone who has seen the film animations of the great South African artist will be fascinated by the account he gives of his thinking and studio practice. -- Kenneth Baker * San Francisco Chronicle *
This is a beautiful and necessary book in all respects… It looks at the work of an artist from his own perspective, which in some instances may be a risky strategy, but Kentridge is such a good writer that the book is as brisk as it is insightful… He is also a wonderful draftsman, and his drawings, often executed in pen and ink or cut paper, are carefully reproduced here. The production of this book was handled as a work of art too. The size, proportion, binding, and attention to detail are superb. The design by Dean Bornstein harmonizes perfectly with the tone of the book. Enthusiastically recommended. -- S. Skaggs * Choice *

William Kentridge is an animator, illustrator, printmaker, sculptor, and theater director based in Johannesburg, South Africa. A member of the American Philosophical Society, Kentridge’s diverse works have been exhibited at museums worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Tate Modern, and Kunstmuseum Basel. As a director, he has staged productions of Shostakovich’s The Nose and Berg’s Lulu at the Metropolitan Opera and Mozart’s The Magic Flute at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and Le Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780674365803
ISBN 10	0674365801
Title	Six Drawing Lessons
Author	William Kentridge
Series	The Charles Eliot Norton Lectures
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Harvard University Press
Year published	2014-09-01
Number of pages	208
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.