Bianca Bosker Discusses Get the Picture: Inside the New York Art World
Join us for an exciting panel exploring the New York art world with Bianca Bosker, author of Get the Picture: A Mind-Bending Journey among the Inspired Artists and Obsessive Art Fiends Who Taught Me How to See. Bosker will be joined by acclaimed local artists Julie Curtiss and Liz Ainslie, who were also featured in the book. Following the panel, there will be Q&A with the audience. Adult Librarian and visual artist Lila Freeman will moderate the event.
An award-winning journalist obsessed with obsession, Bianca Bosker’s existence was upended when she wandered into the art world—and couldn’t look away. Intrigued by artists who hyperventilate around their favorite colors and art fiends who max out credit cards to show hunks of metal they think can change the world, Bosker grew fixated on understanding why art matters and how she—or any of us—could engage with it more deeply.
In Get the Picture, Bosker throws herself into the nerve center of art and the people who live for it: gallerists, collectors, curators, and, of course, artists themselves—the kind who work multiple jobs to afford their studios while scrabbling to get eyes on their art. As she stretches canvases until her fingers blister, talks her way into A-list parties full of billionaire collectors, has her face sat on by a nearly-naked performance artist, and forces herself to stare at a single sculpture for hours on end while working as a museum security guard, she discovers not only the inner workings of the art-canonization machine but also a more expansive way of living.
Place a copy of Get the Picture on hold here, and feel free to visit the Bushwick Library or call (718.602.1348) with any questions.
PARTCIPANTS
Bianca Bosker is the New York Times bestselling author of Cork Dork and, most recently, Get the Picture: A Mind-Bending Journey among the Inspired Artists and Obsessive Art Fiends Who Taught Me How to See. A contributing writer at The Atlantic, she has also written for publications such as The New Yorker, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Her work has been recognized with awards from the New York Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, and more, and has been included in The Best American Travel Writing. She lives in New York City.
Julie Curtiss was born in 1982 in Paris, France and lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. She graduated in 2006 with a BA and MFA from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-arts, Paris. Recent solo exhibitions include White Cube Hong Kong (2023) and Mason’s Yard, London (2021); Anton Kern Gallery, New York (2022). Curtiss’ work is represented in a number of museum collections, among which are Bronx Museum, New York; Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio; High Museum, Atlanta; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; and Yuz Museum, Shanghai.
Liz Ainslie was born in 1978 and lives in Brooklyn, NY. She received her MFA from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, PA (2004) and her BFA from Alfred University in Alfred, NY (2001). Her forthcoming solo exhibition at Deanna Evans Projects will occur in November 2025. Ainslie has mounted solo and two-person exhibitions at Good Naked in New York City, NY (2022); SARDINE in Brooklyn, NY (2020); Transmitter in Brooklyn, NY (2017); and the Cohen Gallery at Alfred University in Alfred, NY (2017). She has participated in group shows in galleries such as White Columns, Good Naked, Rhett Baruch, Mepaintsme, SARDINE, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Tappeto Volante, A.I.R. Gallery, Vox Populi, BCB Fine Art, and Gallerie Kritiku, Prague. Ainslie is a Co-director of Underdonk Gallery in Brooklyn, a visiting artist at Trestle Projects (2018), a resident artist at the Millay Colony for the Arts (2011), and the Atlantic Center for the Arts (2006).
