Letters to a Young Artist

Letters to a Young Artist by Peter Nesbett. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780977368006.

This pocket-sized book contains a collection of two dozen letters all commissioned from established artists to a fictitious "young artist," a recent art-school graduate who is struggling with the moral and practical implications of being an artist in New York. The "young artist" asked a selection of his heroes, "Is it possible to maintain ones integrity and freedom of thought and still participate in the art world?" Responding artists--including Gregory Amenoff, Jo Baer, John Baldessari, Jimmie Durham, Joan Jonas, Adrian Piper, William Pope Lawrence Weiner and Richard Tuttle wrote back with advice (Gregory Amenoff: "Keep away from art fairs."); encouragement (Joan Jonas: "The answer is the Work. To Work. To care about the Work."); and cautionary tales (Adrian Piper: "Young artist, it is highly unlikely that you will be rewarded professionally for reaching this point. Nor will it make you popular. On the contrary: you will develop a reputation for being difficult, uncooperative, inflexible, or even self-destructive; and treated [or mistreated, or ostracized, or blacklisted] accordingly."). Twelve of these letters were originally published in Art on Paper. This book expands considerably upon that project.