This was a great book. I couldn't put it down and had to binge read it. This book is definitely eye opening to the darker side of the art world. I really couldn't believe what I was reading at times . This is definitely the most controversial side of art. Some would even question if it is art at all. It seemed so wrong but it was created for a reason and to make a point that was very important to each artist. The point of there art was to shock people to make them understand what is wrong in the world so it certainly made a statement with me and made me think hard about each artist and there work. Yes they are very wrong so bad even that the book doesn't have any pictures. Without these controversies there point nor artwork would be even taken serious. To be honest I wish there was pictures in this book as it would of made the book even more powerful but would the reader be able to stomach this hmm. I love reading books about art especially those who's art is very different and this book did not disappoint at all. It was very well researched and well wrote it had me hooked from the very start and when it finished I wanted more. I could of read books like this one forever as they are so interesting. I learnt a lot from reading this. I only wished it was longer as it flowed so well. I definitely recommend reading this book if you love reading about the darker more gorey side of art.

So much praise goes out to the author and publishers for bringing us this very interesting and very different artists story to life.

The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo and amazon UK where found and my blog today https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/beautiful-gruesome-and-true-by-kaelen-wilson-goldie-columbia-global-reports-4-stars either under my name or ladyreading365

The three artists/groups, their contexts and the histories of violence they expose are horrifying. Their art is visceral. Teresa Margolles' exhibit at the Venice Biennale is seared into my mind.

It was fascinating to learn about the artists and their motivations, and how those were expressed in their art. Their courage is astounding.

There was a lot of excess exposition on the art world. It was distracting. It was as if I was suddenly yanked into an academic journal. (It moved the book from 4 starts to 3.)

For a small book this one packs a punch!

I learned so much about the art world from this book - the good, the bad, the morally questionable.

Teresa Margolles' work especially spoke to me, living so close to Mexico. While I can't say all of her pieces made sense to me (A few left me with some gruesome dreams.) I loved the exhibition she did in Venice and thought the pieces she did about the Trans sex workers in Juarez sounded especially moving.

These artists works caused offense in some cases, strong emotions always, and in some cases even chaos. But isn't that what they're reflecting? Their pieces are about war, violence and the conflict we're surrounded by. It only makes sense to me that they include some of what they reflect. Art isn't meant to make us comfortable. It's meant to move us, to make us feel something. In some cases it's intent is to bring things to light that have been kept too long in the dark. These artists achieved all of this and more.

I was definitely left wanting to know more, to see some of these artists works, to dig deeper into the conflicts their pieces represent. A good non-fiction book leaves you with a thirst for more knowledge and this one accomplished that.