Ben A. Davis is an American

art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...

who is known for his writing on politics, economics, and contemporary art, and for his book ''9.5 Theses on Art and Class'' (2013). In 2022,

Haymarket Books Haymarket Books is a left-wing non-profit, independent book publisher based in Chicago. History Haymarket Books was founded in 2001 by Anthony Arnove, Ahmed Shawki and Julie Fain, all of whom had previously worked at the '' International Sociali ...

published his second book, ''Art in the After-Culture: Capitalist Crisis and Cultural Strategy''. Like ''9.5 Theses on Art and Class'', ''Art in the After-Culture'' is a collection of his cultural essays.

Career

Davis was executive editor of the art news website Artinfo from 2010 to 2013, and before that associate editor of Artnet Magazine from 2005 to 2010. He is currently the National Art Critic for the art news website

Artnet News Artnet.com is an art market website. It is operated by Artnet Worldwide Corporation, which has headquarters in New York City, in the United States, and is owned by Artnet AG, a German publicly traded company based in Berlin that is listed on t ...

. As an independent writer, his work about art has appeared widely in publications including ''

Adbusters The Adbusters Media Foundation is a Canadian-based Nonprofit organization, not-for-profit, Environmentalism, pro-environment organization founded in 1989 by Kalle Lasn and Bill Schmalz in Vancouver, British Columbia. Adbusters describes itself ...

'', ''

Frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

'', ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

'', ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

'', and ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

''. Davis was one of the editors of ''The Elements of Architecture'', the catalogue for the 2014

Venice Architecture Biennale Venice Biennale of Architecture (in Italian Mostra di Architettura di Venezia) is an international exhibition of architecture from nations around the world, held in Venice, Italy, every other year. It was held on even years until 2018, but 202 ...

, curated by

Rem Koolhaas Remment Lucas Koolhaas (; born 17 November 1944) is a Dutch architect, architectural theorist, urbanist and Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. He is often cited as a re ...

. In 2015,

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

art critic

Peter Schjeldahl Peter Charles Schjeldahl (; March 20, 1942 – October 21, 2022) was an American art critic, poet, and educator. He was noted for being the head art critic at ''The New Yorker'', having earlier written for ''The Village Voice'', ''ARTnews'', and ...

has referred to Davis as “among the excellent younger critics now.”

9.5 Theses on Art and Class (Pamphlet)

In 2009, Davis wrote the pamphlet ''9.5 Theses on Art and Class'' as an intervention into the art show titled '' #class'' at Winkleman Gallery in New York City, which set out to explore how artistic success is determined by economics. The discussion generated by the pamphlet drew notice in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', and was “one of the most talked about sessions” of the #class show, according to Sarah Thornton. ''9.5 Theses on Art and Class'' was later translated into Spanish and Romanian.

9.5 Theses on Art and Class (Book)

''9.5 Theses on Art and Class'', a collection of Davis’s essays including the title pamphlet, was published by

in 2013. Upon its publication, ''9.5 Theses on Art and Class'' received positive notice in both the mainstream and art press. '' The Stranger'' concluded its review by saying, “We should hold town hall meetings on this book.” ''

'' faulted Davis for “too readily” using Marxism as an explanatory model, but concluded, “On 9.5 Theses, the verdict is crystal: This is one helluva pamphlet.” ''9.5 Theses on Art and Class'' was featured in ''New York'' magazine’s “Approval Matrix” on July 13, 2013, which called it a “riveting manifesto.” The book has been credited with “

ringing Ringing may mean: Vibrations * Ringing (signal), unwanted oscillation of a signal, leading to ringing artifacts * Vibration of a harmonic oscillator ** Bell ringing * Ringing (telephony), the sound of a telephone bell * Ringing (medicine), a ri ...

the discussion of class, artists, and the art market center stage in a way that

oes Oes or owes were metallic "O" shaped rings or eyelets sewn on to clothes and furnishing textiles for decorative effect in England and at the Elizabethan and Jacobean court. They were smaller than modern sequins. Making and metals Robert Sharp obta ...

beyond fleeting auction reports and perpetual gallery gripes.” Hrag Vartanian
“10 Best Art Books of 2013
‘’Hyperallergic’’, December 23, 2013

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Ben 21st-century American non-fiction writers American art critics American male non-fiction writers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American male writers