Michael Bracewell: The Space Between: Collected Writings

Novelist, writer, curator and cultural commentator, Michael Bracewell's approach to visual art is driven by its cultural context, the lens of the recent past and prolonged looking.

Bracewell's art writing focuses on detailed descriptions of artworks, exploring connections between the visual arts, pop music, modern iconography and subcultures, whilst appraising the vision and ideas of individual artists and the relation of their work to its broader cultural context.

He has written extensively for museums and galleries on artists including Gilbert & George, Richard Hamilton, Bridget Riley, Wolfgang Tillmans, John Stezaker, Glenn Brown and Damien Hirst.

Together, the texts read as a history of the UK and British art from 1959 to the present day.

In an engaging collection from the outstanding British art publisher Ridinghouse, Bracewell explores connections between the visual arts, pop music, modern iconography and various sub-cultures. These finely crafted essays appraise the vision and ideas of individual artists and the relation of their work to its broader cultural context. Bracewell has written extensively on artists including Gilbert & George, Richard Hamilton, Bridget Riley, Wolfgang Tillmans, Anish Kapoor, Keith Coventry, John Stezaker, Glenn Brown and Damien Hirst.

Reading Bracewell is sheer pleasure. His British colleagues describe his work as "lyrical" and "inspired." One critic calls him "the poet laureate of late capitalism," while another says his prose "shimmers with metaphysical warmth." Even allowing for critical exaggeration, there's no question this is a writer of huge talent, with a lot to say.