John A. Walker
Encyclopedia
John A. Walker is a British art critic and historian who has written over 15 books on modern and contemporary art with an emphasis on mass media. He has also written on design history methodology. Walker's books include Art since Pop (1975), Design history and the history of design with Judy Attfield (1990), John Latham: The Incidental Person - His Art and Ideas (1994), Cultural Offensive: America's Impact on British Art since 1945 (1998), Art & Outrage (1999), Supercollector: A Critique of Charles Saatchi with Rita Hatton (2000),
Left Shift: Radical Art in 1970s Britain (2001), Art in the Age of Mass Media (3rd ed.: 2001), Art and Celebrity (2003), and Firefighters in Art and Media: A Pictorial History (2009).
Walker was a Reader in Art and Design History at Middlesex University near London until retiring in 1999. He was trained as a painter at Newcastle upon Tyne.
With regard to John Latham: The Incidental Person - His Art and Ideas (1994), John A. Walker wrote a contentious article on Artnet.com after John Latham
's death. In it, Walker revealed that there was a legal conflict with Latham concerning the book. The article is titled "The Perils of Publishing". He also released legal letters concerning the conflict, in which he is quoted: "Latham acts as if he is the commissioner or patron of the book rather than its subject matter... He tries to treat me like a slave whose function is to write down exactly what he dictates. This is not on…".
In Art in the Age of Mass Media (2001), Walker writes thematic essays including how 'art uses mass culture', 'the mass media use art', for example, direct references to art in advertisements, 'art and new media technologies' and 'art and mass media 1990-2000'. In this last-mentioned chapter, for example, he refers to 'the artist as media celebrity: Damien Hirst', and writes: "During the 1990s, Damien Hirst [b. 1965] became Britain's most famous, young, living sculptor and painter, in part because of his own flair for self-promotion and the publicity skills of his primary patron Charles Saatchi... Saatchi, of course, was an expert at expoiting the mass media because of his long career in advertising."
In Art and Celebrity, Walker offers five thematic chapters including 'Celebrities as Art Collectors and Artists' showing artworks by Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones, and actors Anthony Quinn
and Dennis Hopper
, and shows Madonna
awarding artist Martin Creed
the UK's Turner Prize
in 2001. Other chapters include 'Artists depict Celebrities', 'Simulation and Celebrities', 'Alternative Heroes' including the artwork The Dinner Party (1979) by Judy Chicago
and Che (2000) depicting Che Guevara
by Gavin Turk
. The final chapter focuses on 'Art Stars' about the cult of the artist and the celebrity artist. This refers back to artists in the Italian Renaissance, to Rembrandt, and van Gogh. Particular attention is given to 20th/21st century artists: Picasso, Salvador Dali
, Jackson Pollock
, Francis Bacon
, David Hockney
, Yoko Ono
, Andy Warhol
, Joseph Beuys
, Gilbert & George, Julian Schnabel
, Jean-Michel Basquiat
, Jeff Koons
, Damien Hirst
, and Tracey Emin
. In the conclusion, Walker lists out his view of the advantages and disadvantages of becoming an art star.
In June 2009, Walker produced a limited edition Saatchi branding iron. Artnet.com reported that the iron is "an actual implement that can be used to burn the collector's name into wooden stretcher bars, if not into "artist's flesh, dead cows, sheep and sharks, etc... Promised soon are 'GOGO' (art gallerist Larry Gagosian
) and 'JAY JOP' (art gallerist Jay Jopling
) branding irons as well".
Left Shift: Radical Art in 1970s Britain (2001), Art in the Age of Mass Media (3rd ed.: 2001), Art and Celebrity (2003), and Firefighters in Art and Media: A Pictorial History (2009).
Walker was a Reader in Art and Design History at Middlesex University near London until retiring in 1999. He was trained as a painter at Newcastle upon Tyne.
With regard to John Latham: The Incidental Person - His Art and Ideas (1994), John A. Walker wrote a contentious article on Artnet.com after John Latham
John Latham (artist)
John Aubrey Clarendon Latham, was a British conceptual artist who lived for many years in England. He believed that violence and conflict between the people of the world is the result of ideological differences...
's death. In it, Walker revealed that there was a legal conflict with Latham concerning the book. The article is titled "The Perils of Publishing". He also released legal letters concerning the conflict, in which he is quoted: "Latham acts as if he is the commissioner or patron of the book rather than its subject matter... He tries to treat me like a slave whose function is to write down exactly what he dictates. This is not on…".
In Art in the Age of Mass Media (2001), Walker writes thematic essays including how 'art uses mass culture', 'the mass media use art', for example, direct references to art in advertisements, 'art and new media technologies' and 'art and mass media 1990-2000'. In this last-mentioned chapter, for example, he refers to 'the artist as media celebrity: Damien Hirst', and writes: "During the 1990s, Damien Hirst [b. 1965] became Britain's most famous, young, living sculptor and painter, in part because of his own flair for self-promotion and the publicity skills of his primary patron Charles Saatchi... Saatchi, of course, was an expert at expoiting the mass media because of his long career in advertising."
In Art and Celebrity, Walker offers five thematic chapters including 'Celebrities as Art Collectors and Artists' showing artworks by Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones, and actors Anthony Quinn
Anthony Quinn
Antonio Rodolfo Quinn-Oaxaca , more commonly known as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican American actor, as well as a painter and writer...
and Dennis Hopper
Dennis Hopper
Dennis Lee Hopper was an American actor, filmmaker and artist. As a young man, Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors' Studio. He made his first television appearance in 1954 and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant...
, and shows Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
awarding artist Martin Creed
Martin Creed
Martin Creed is an artist and musician. He won the Turner Prize in 2001 for Work No. 227: the lights going on and off, which was an empty room in which the lights went on and off.-Life and work :...
the UK's Turner Prize
Turner Prize
The Turner Prize, named after the painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist under the age of 50. Awarding the prize is organised by the Tate gallery and staged at Tate Britain. Since its beginnings in 1984 it has become the United Kingdom's most publicised...
in 2001. Other chapters include 'Artists depict Celebrities', 'Simulation and Celebrities', 'Alternative Heroes' including the artwork The Dinner Party (1979) by Judy Chicago
Judy Chicago
Judy Chicago is a feminist artist, author, and educator.Chicago has been creating artwork since the mid 1960s. Her earliest forays into the art world coincided with the rise of Minimalism, which she eventually abandoned in favor of art she believed to have greater content and relevance...
and Che (2000) depicting Che Guevara
Che Guevara
Ernesto "Che" Guevara , commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat and military theorist...
by Gavin Turk
Gavin Turk
Gavin Turk is a British artist and one of the Young British Artists . He often uses his own image in life-size sculptures of famous people.-Life and work:...
. The final chapter focuses on 'Art Stars' about the cult of the artist and the celebrity artist. This refers back to artists in the Italian Renaissance, to Rembrandt, and van Gogh. Particular attention is given to 20th/21st century artists: Picasso, Salvador Dali
Salvador Dalí
Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....
, Jackson Pollock
Jackson Pollock
Paul Jackson Pollock , known as Jackson Pollock, was an influential American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. During his lifetime, Pollock enjoyed considerable fame and notoriety. He was regarded as a mostly reclusive artist. He had a volatile personality, and...
, Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England...
, David Hockney
David Hockney
David Hockney, CH, RA, is an English painter, draughtsman, printmaker, stage designer and photographer, who is based in Bridlington, Yorkshire and Kensington, London....
, Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono
is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...
, Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
, Joseph Beuys
Joseph Beuys
Joseph Beuys was a German performance artist, sculptor, installation artist, graphic artist, art theorist and pedagogue of art.His extensive work is grounded in concepts of humanism, social philosophy and anthroposophy; it culminates in his "extended definition of art" and the idea of social...
, Gilbert & George, Julian Schnabel
Julian Schnabel
Julian Schnabel is an American artist and filmmaker. In the 1980s, Schnabel received international media attention for his "plate paintings"—large-scale paintings set on broken ceramic plates....
, Jean-Michel Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat was an American artist. His career in art began as a graffiti artist in New York City in the late 1970s, and in the 1980s produced Neo-expressionist painting.-Early life:...
, Jeff Koons
Jeff Koons
Jeffrey "Jeff" Koons is an American artist known for his reproductions of banal objects—such as balloon animals produced in stainless steel with mirror finish surfaces....
, Damien Hirst
Damien Hirst
Damien Steven Hirst is an English artist, entrepreneur and art collector. He is the most prominent member of the group known as the Young British Artists , who dominated the art scene in Britain during the 1990s. He is internationally renowned, and is reportedly Britain's richest living artist,...
, and Tracey Emin
Tracey Emin
Tracey Karima Emin RA is a British artist of English and Turkish Cypriot origin. She is part of the group known as Britartists or YBAs ....
. In the conclusion, Walker lists out his view of the advantages and disadvantages of becoming an art star.
In June 2009, Walker produced a limited edition Saatchi branding iron. Artnet.com reported that the iron is "an actual implement that can be used to burn the collector's name into wooden stretcher bars, if not into "artist's flesh, dead cows, sheep and sharks, etc... Promised soon are 'GOGO' (art gallerist Larry Gagosian
Larry Gagosian
Lawrence Gilbert "Larry" Gagosian is an American art dealer who owns the Gagosian Gallery chain of art galleries, with three locations in New York City Lawrence Gilbert "Larry" Gagosian (born April 19, 1945) is an American art dealer who owns the Gagosian Gallery chain of art galleries, with three...
) and 'JAY JOP' (art gallerist Jay Jopling
Jay Jopling
Jeremy "Jay" Jopling is an English art dealer and gallery owner. He is closely associated with the YBA artists and his gallery White Cube represents the commercial interests of YBAs Jake & Dinos Chapman, Tracey Emin, Marcus Harvey, Damien Hirst, Gary Hume, Marc Quinn, and Sam Taylor-Wood, whom he...
) branding irons as well".