The Way to Be
A Memoir
by Barbara T. Smith
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Pub Date Mar 14 2023 | Archive Date May 21 2023
Getty Publications | Getty Research Institute
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Description
For over fifty years, Barbara T. Smith has been at the forefront of artistic movements in California. Her work across many mediums explores concepts that strike at the core of human nature, including sexuality, physical and spiritual sustenance, technology, and death. In this memoir, Smith weaves together descriptive accounts of her pioneering performances with an intimate narrative of her life.
The Way to Be covers the years 1931 to 1981, up to the artist’s fiftieth birthday, resulting in an exhaustive catalogue of her early work. It reveals the personal stories and events behind her pieces and the challenges she faced in an art world dominated by sexism and machismo. Drawing on Smith’s archive at the Getty Research Institute, this enthralling book presents previously unpublished notes, documents, photographs, and firsthand accounts of her life and practice, as well as her more recent reflections on the past. The Way to Be demonstrates Smith’s lasting contributions to the field of contemporary art and provides an engaging commentary on a recent period of great cultural and political change.
This volume is published to accompany an exhibition on view at the Getty Research Institute at the Getty Center from February 28 to July 16, 2023.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781606068212 |
| PRICE | $40.00 (USD) |
| PAGES | 288 |
Links
Available on NetGalley
Average rating from 1 member
Featured Reviews
Jack M, Reviewer
The Way to Be: A Memoir by Barbara T Smith is an absolutely wonderful memoir as well as an excellent art/art history book.
I admit that I often come to books that accompany exhibitions, or even ones that are meant to be appreciated visually as well as intellectually, primarily for the images and any explanations that help me better understand the art. I wasn't sure what to expect with a memoir as the written part. Turns out it worked at least as well as any other format.
As explanatory text for the images the memoir was wonderful, namely because we not only learn the thought processes involved but also get a nice contextualization within both her life and broader society. But what surprised me was just how much I enjoyed reading it strictly as a memoir. Her honesty and openness made me just want to know more.
I love her authorial voice, the way she states some things as definitive facts that, if they had happened to me, I might have danced around. This is her life, and her art, through her eyes, and I came to greatly appreciate both. I want to reread the book without flipping around so much to look at the images, I just want to encounter it as a memoir.
Highly recommended not only for those with an interest in her art but also any readers who like good memoirs about interesting people.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
