Making It: The Artist's Survival Guide Paperback – August 15, 2021
Making It is a gonzo memoir of an established artist crossed with objective advice, tips and tricks fleshed out by a best-selling art historian and Pulitzer finalist writer on art. It peels back the shroud and reveals the highs and struggles in the life and career of a working artist.
Specifically aimed at aspiring artists and art students, it will be of interest to anyone who wants to know what it is like to have an artist’s-eye-view of the art world, asking the tough and often glossed-over questions that rising artists inevitably have, not only about the creative process, but about navigating the turbulent waters of the social, professional, academic, critical, museum and trade elements of a career as a visual artist.
How best to deal with the abundance of alcohol, drugs and sex while wire-walking your own artistic dilemmas? How can an artist launch his or her career and help it flourish? What’s it like to achieve every artist’s dream, including showing at the Venice Biennale? What does it really mean to "make it" and how can you maintain your groove once you’ve arrived?
All these questions and more are answered in this combination tell-all memoir and how-to manual for rising artists and anyone wanting a behind-the-scenes tour of what it’s like to be an artist.
Reviews
“The reason we create is to make a legacy that will outlive us, to reach those who might never meet us,” writes artist Jaša in his debut work, an earnest reference guide for aspiring professional artists. With the help of art historian Charney, Jaša touches upon a wide range of subjects, including where to find inspiration, how to exhibit work, and the mindset one should have when deciding to seriously pursue a career in art. Along the way, a number of maxims are doled out. Concerning art school: “Do not mistake life and success at art school for life and success outside of it.” Another grounding lesson is how the medium will always be lucrative, if only for a select few. “The market is ruled by those with big bucks... almost all of that money goes to a tiny percentage of artists.” As a general how-to guide, the work offers indispensable advice; however, its wisdom is still highly subjective. The real strength resides in the autobiographical accounts, as when Jaša recounts the personal highs and lows he’s encountered in an industry that only offers “just a few minutes to demonstrate that you’re worth more.” Written with a dry wit and heartfelt emotion, this will appeal to Jaša’s fans and those dreaming of a career in art.
― Publishers Weekly
A smashing story of how an artist never stops working, always keeps moving, doesn’t allow rejection to define him, and who makes art that finds large audiences against all odds. An every-artist story.
-- Jerry Saltz, senior art critic New York Magazine, and author of How To Be an Artist
Making It: The Artist Survival Guide is a book every true artist cannot but love. It is, of course, impossible to condense the complex process of creativity into the form of “making it” guides that provide ready-made formulas for success, love life, getting friends, etc. – but for this very reason one should do it. This book gives you the freedom to follow its proposals or to mock them – to mock the rules, the rules should be there. If you do not need a “making it” guide for your work, you are not an original creative genius, you are an idiot.
-- Slavoj Žižek, philosopher and best-selling author
Wittily written as an autobiography, this book is a useful guide for any aspiring artist looking to navigate and engage the professional artworld. Through the conceptual lens and story of an acclaimed performance artist, it provides valuable insight into the machinations of the business, critical and social implications of this career path, leaving no stone unturned.
-- Mitra Khorasheh, director, Signs & Symbols Gallery, New York