Confessions of a Working Class Artist - Mark Alice Durant

Confessions of a Working Class Artist is a personal meditation written in an episodic style that addresses the realities of socioeconomic class in relation to living a creative life.

The realities of socio-economic class in relation to art are rarely addressed, yet those realities undergird the structure, access, and lack of access, to living a creative life in the visual arts.

"I come from a working-class background. No one in my family had ever attended college and, as far as I know, ever went to a museum or gallery. As a teenager I came to art through my own curiosity and need to escape. Naively, like most young artists, I imagined a life of unrestricted freedom of expression. What I could not have foreseen were the hurdles and closed doors facing artists without money, social capital, or the right education."—Mark Alice Durant

Mixing personal anecdotes of shame and revelation, socio-political observations, and stories from fellow working-class artists, Confessions is not a sociological study nor manifesto; It is an attempt to confront how class forms us and continues to inform the career choices (or lack) and the art we make (or don’t make). The book acknowledges the burdens and challenges facing poor and working-class creatives, who although lacking privilege and resources, have found the fortitude to create a way forward.

Illustrated with over 30 images from Frédéric Bazille, Jules Breton, Gustav Caillebotte, Maya Deren, Duccio, Lewis Hine, Dorothea Lange, Jacob Lawrence, Alexander Rodchenko, Mierle Laderman Ukeles, and the author.