'Curationism is increasingly persuasive as it nears the present. 'An insightful, provocative and entertaining overview of many of the key issues in both art and cultural life today' A good read, if you don't mind reading things that you don't want to know' Balzer traces the history and current hegemony of curationism-a practice of jumped-up interior decorators who double as priests explaining the gospel to the unlettered masses.

'Point out how far we have come from the original avatars of the term: the curatores' Sheila Heti, author of How Should a Person Be? Curationism is a memorable exploration that will change how you see so many daily activities. 'Balzer writes with zest, scepticism and sly humour as he tracks the rise of the 'star curator' as marking the end of any possible avant-garde. Recalling such landmark works of cultural criticism as Tom Wolfe's The Painted Word and John Berger's Ways of Seeing, Balzer asks whether curationism has finally reached its own limits, where its widespread success has paradoxically led to its own demise. Everyone, it seems, is now a curator.īut what is a curator, exactly? And what does the explosive popularity of curating say about our culture's relationship with taste, labour and the avant-garde? In this vibrant book, David Balzer travels through art history to explore the cult of curation, where it began, how it came to dominate museums and galleries, and how it emerged at the turn of the millennium as a dominant mode of thinking and being. At the same time, curatorial-studies programs continue to grow, and businesses are adopting curation as a means of adding value to content. Inside the art world, the curator reigns supreme, acting as the face of high-profile group shows in a way that can eclipse the contributions of individual artists. 'Curate' has become a buzzword, applied to everything from music festivals to artisanal cheese. Now that we 'curate' even lunch, what happens to the role of the connoisseur in contemporary culture? In this vibrant, revelatory and original study, David Balzer travels through art history and around the globe to explore the cult of curation, from superstar. *Winner of the ICA Book of the Year, 2015*

Curationism by David Balzer