Sarah Thornton is a Canadian writer and sociologist of culture who moved to Britain on a Commonwealth Scholarship to research a PhD on youth subcultures, having already completed a BA in Art History.

That thesis was published as Club Cultures: Music, Media and Subcultural Capital (1995). She once ran the MA in Media Studies at Sussex University, and has been a visiting research fellow at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Since 2003, she has been investigating the social dynamics of contemporary art. Her second book, Seven Days in the Art World (2008), is a witty series of non-fiction narratives, revealing the inner workings of the institutions that contribute to an artist’s place in art history. Based on intensive ethnographic research (i.e. hundreds of hours of participant observation and in-depth interviews with over 250 people), the book is an international hit, translated into ten languages.

Thornton is currently the chief writer on contemporary art for The Economist. She lives in London and has contributed commentary to many television and radio shows and publications, including Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Artforum.com, The Art Newspaper, and The New Yorker.

 Website: www.sarah-thornton.com

Books

In Seven Days in the Art World, Sarah Thornton takes us on an unusual journey, exploring the most puzzling aspects of buying, selling, creating and exhibiting contemporary art.

In a series of beautifully paced, fly-on-the-wall narratives, we witness the drama of a Christie's auction, the high jinks of Takashi Murakami's studios, life in a notorious art school seminar, the elite at the Basel Art Fair, the eccentricities of Artforum magazine, the back rooms of the Turner Prize and the watery wonderland of the Venice Biennale.

Thornton's exceptional access never compromises her critical eye, making this book more than just a glancing survey or a simple gossipfest.

Watch Sarah Thornton speak about the book