'Bryan’s writing pops and zings like a Basquiat painting' – NOEL FIELDINGIn Bright Stars, Kate Bryan examines the lives and legacies of 30 great artists who died too young, celebrating their inspirational stories and extraordinary talent.Some of the world’s greatest and most-loved artists died under the age of forty. But how did they turn relatively short careers into such long legacies? What drove them to ...

The Art of Love tells the stories of the most fascinating couples of the art world – uncovering the passionate, challenging and loving relationships behind some the world's greatest works of art.Kate Bryan (broadcaster, writer and curator) delves into the complex world of artistic relationships, exploring the nuanced ways in which art and love can share the same space. When two married artists collaborate,...

A funny, inviting, full-color book about art for people who don’t know about “art”—featuring new artworks by David Shrigley.What is art, where do I find it, and once I’m in front of it, what am I supposed to think about it? Kate Bryan is a self-confessed art addict who has worked with art for over twenty years. But before she studied art history at university, she’d visited a gallery just twice in her life and had no idea she was entering an elitist world. Now, she...

A funny, inviting book about art for people who don’t know about “art”—featuring new artworks by David Shrigley.What is art, where do I find it, and once I’m in front of it, what am I supposed to think about it? Kate Bryan is a self-confessed art addict who has worked with art for over twenty years. But before she studied art history at university, she’d visited a gallery just twice in her life and had no idea she was entering an elitist world. Now, she’s on a miss...

A fly-on-the-wall account of the smart and strange subcultures that make, trade, curate, collect, and hype contemporary art.The art market has been booming. Museum attendance is surging. More people than ever call themselves artists. Contemporary art has become a mass entertainment, a luxury good, a job description, and, for some, a kind of alternative religion.In a series of beautifully paced narratives, Sarah Thornton investigates the drama of a Christie's auction, the wo...

Once a luxury that only the elite could afford, fashion is now accessible to all. High street brands such as Zara, Topshop and H&M have put fashion within the reach of anyone, whilst massive media attention has turned designers such as Tom Ford, Alexander McQueen and Stella McCartney into brands in their own right. Fashion Brands takes you 'behind the seams', so to speak, exposing how the use of advertising, store design and the media has altered our fashion 'sens...

The word "luxury" has almost lost its meaning. Once used to describe genuinely prestigious products or places, the concept of luxury has been hijacked by a multitude of aspiring or overpriced commodities, from foot spas to chocolates. So what is real luxury? Which are the genuine luxury brands, and how have they reacted to the rise of the "mass luxury" sector? What strategies do they use to lift themselves into the realm of the truly elite? Who are their customers - and what kind ...

How dull plays are killing theatre and what we can do about it.Had I become disenchanted with the form I had once fallen so madly in love with as a pubescent, pimple-faced suburban homo with braces? Maybe theatre was like an all-consuming high school infatuation that now, ten years later, I saw as the closeted balding guy with a beer gut he’d become. There were of course those rare moments of transcendencethat kept me coming back. But why did they come so few a...

Axiom Business Book Award Winner in Entrepreneurship CategoryLearn to make creativity work for your career.Anyone, regardless of who you are or what you do, can cultivate the habits, actions, and attitudes that inspire creativity and innovation.There has never been a more crucial time than now to develop your creativity and your ability to innovate. Coming up with original ideas of value is today’s most precious ski...

Now that we 'curate' even lunch, what happens to the role of the connoisseur in contemporary culture?‘Curate’ is now a buzzword, applied to everything from music festivals to artisanal cheese. Inside the art world, the curator reigns supreme, acting as the face of high-profile group shows and biennials in a way that can eclipse and assimilate the contributions of individual artists. Curatorial-studies programs continue to grow, and the business world is adopting cu...

If you've ever considered going to an art museum and then thought, errr, I'll do something else ... If you've ever arrived at one and left a little glazed and confused ... If you've ever thought, I might read an eight-page article about art museums but not a whole book ... Then this is your story. Museum Legs -- taken from a term for art fatigue -- starts with a question: Why do people get bored and tired in art museums and why does that matter? "Amy Whitaker's sparkling meditations on the mu...

Building a relationship with a city is a lot like building a relationship with another person - just as cities can be intoxicating, generous and inspiring, so they can also be dangerous, fickle and impenetrable. How to Live in the City is a book for navigating and nurturing this important relationship.Hugo Macdonald believes you need to feel a city to understand it. He won't tell you how wide the perfect pavement should be but he will show you how to walk down a pavement w...