Art on My Mind

A rich, thought-provoking collection of essays, critiques and interviews from the influential author of Ain't I a Woman and All About Love 'There must be a revolution in the way we see, the way we look' In a collection of essays, critiques and interviews, bell hooks responds to the ongoing dialogues about producing, exhibiting and criticising art and aesthetics in a world increasingly concerned with identity politics. hooks shares her own experience of the transformative power of art whilst exploring topics ranging from art in education and the home to the politics of space and imagination as a revolutionary tool. She positions her writings on visual politics within the ever-present question of how art can be empowering within the Black community. Speaking with artists such as Carrie Mae Weems and Alison Saar, and examining the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Art on My Mind is a generous and expansive body of work that has become increasingly relevant since it was first published in 1995. Here is an essential tool for understanding the contemporary moment, and a fundamental text for any reader concerned with making and sustaining a democratic artistic culture.

bell hooks (1952-2021) was an influential cultural critic, feminist theorist and writer. Celebrated as one of America's leading public intellectuals, she was a charismatic speaker and writer who taught and lectured around the world. Previously a professor in the English departments at Yale University and Oberlin College, hooks was the author of more than seventeen books, including The New York Times bestseller All About Love: New Visions; Salvation: Black People and Love; and Communion: The Female Search for Love, as well as the landmark memoir Bone Black: Memories of Girlhood.