Journal of Art Historiography (Dec 2020)
Mapping the contemporary historiography of the artist interview as a literary and critical genre: a critical introduction
Abstract
Providing context for the two papers and four documents in this issue, this critical introduction explores the case for establishing the artist interview as a critical genre. It examines the status of artist interviews in relation to author interviews and the fields of oral history, art practice, art criticism and art history. The interview’s performative nature is emphasised, and the supposed ‘authenticity’ of the artist’s voice questioned. The potential existence of multiple variants of the ‘same’ interview problematises the artist interview’s status in archives – which is the original interview? A link is made between artist interviews and feminist methodologies, based on valuing the embodied nature of speech. Researching interviews goes to the heart of artists’ involvement in writing art history: the extent to which their words should be valued and trusted.
