Musings, descriptions and research about art masquerading as reviews and criticism
Mark Bloch
PD: Oct ‘2024 • ISBN: 978-1-887276-75-7
About the book
Mark Bloch’s Listening to Thistles is a collection of published articles about art shows he has seen to date. Mostly in New York where he has lived since 1982, has published and continues to publish his articles in magazines such as White Heat, Brooklyn Rail and others. This collection of 65 articles brings you ‘in the place’ of art openings, allows us to surfing through waves of contemporary art and artists tracing their appearances in the art galleries of New York City. The author wanted to call the book Listening to Thistles because he likes art and poetry and dislikes the word critic and ‘thistles’ sounds like ‘critics’ which are just as scratchy and off putting but more organic.
About the author
Mark Bloch is the author of Robert Delford Brown: Meat Maps and Militant Metaphysics. In 1978, this native Ohioan founded the Post(al) Art Network a.k.a. PAN. NYU’s Downtown Collection now houses an archive of many of Bloch’s papers including a vast collection of mail art and related ephemera. For three decades Bloch has done performance art in the USA and internationally. In addition to his work as a writer and fine artist, he has also worked as a graphic designer for ABCNews.com, The New York Times, Rolling Stone and elsewhere. He can be reached at bloch.mark@gmail.com and PO Box 1500 NYC 10009.
