Life in Progress

This invigorating memoir from Swiss curator and art critic Obrist (Remember to Dream!) traces his path from ambitious youth to artistic director of London’s Serpentine Gallery, with cameos from numerous contemporary artists along the way. After nearly dying in a car accident at age six, Obrist spent weeks in the hospital that “instilled a sense of urgency in me.” In his teens and 20s, he requested studio visits with nearly any artist he admired, including Swiss giants Peter Fischli and David Weiss, as well as H.R. Giger. The account evolves from a handbook for aspiring art-world practitioners to a meditation on the collaborative relationship between artist and curator when it covers Obrist’s early curatorial experiences; French installation artist Annette Messager memorably advised Obrist to sleep with a stuffed bird beneath a mosquito net as part of his first solo exhibition. Though details of Obrist’s personal life are scarce, he writes persuasively of his passion for connecting to the world through art and his desire to enable others to do the same. (After a London cab driver told him that museums aren’t “for the likes of us,” he planned a series of street exhibitions.) Readers will be inspired. (Apr.)