close looking: Marina Warner and writing about art

‘I believe in close looking…not to pin down the artwork as if it were a thesis or a piece of code, but to touch the springs of the work’s power. Art-writing at its most useful should share in the dynamism, fluidity and passions of the objects of its inquiry.’ (9) in reading Marina Warner’s essays on art and artists, one is struck by how she begins with a piece of art or a body of work and moves to more conceptual thinking and conceptual development from there, rather than vice versa. the art or the artist always forms the foundation and the starting point for her criticism. her writing flows from the artwork and its allusions, references, symbols, and history. her writing is always an exploration of the piece and its context. guided by the piece and its context.

text cited: Warner, Marina. Forms of Enchantment: Writings on Art & Artists. Thames & Hudson. 2018.