I’ve been talking with a close friend, colleague and mentor for years and have come to look forward to our weekly talks which typically center on art, artists, exhibiting, spectacle Though I’ve been known to venture off (I have this thing about excel spreadsheets and products), we try hard to bring the conversation back around to art. I learn so much from these talks that I’ve started to record them and decided to share some of the highlights every week.

This weeks is on what we feel (or rather my friend feels) should be required reading for artists. And thanks to MB for sending copies of most of them.

1. The Painted Word by Tom Wolfe
2.  In Search of Duende, a compilation of Federico Garcia Lorca’s writings.
3.  The Shape of Content by Ben Shahn
4.  A Giacometti Portrait by James Lord
5.  Recodings: Art, Spectacle, Cultural Politics by Hal Foster
6. Concerning the Spiritual in Art by Wassily Kandinsky
7. The Mind’s Eye by Henri Cartier Bresson (my addition)

These short deceptive “little” books are full of thoughtful content…ones that take on different meanings at various times. And while certainly there are many others (the author Luci Lippard comes to mind) this is the go to list.