Appraisal Bureau has recently grown with an incoming team of four data scientists and a new Fine Art intern with a particular Art History degree focus on the History of Digital Art. Each team member is selected for their specific knowledge and skill sets, covering everything from Abstract Expressionism to Artificial Intelligence. Kicking off our Appraisal Bureau Book Swap, we've surveyed what everyone is reading this summer and shortlisted a few recommendations.
And on the occasion of the Seattle Art Fair opening later this month we've reviewed a few exhibitions currently on view. We'll keep our book and exhibition review lists fresh on AB Editorial. For a bit more reading, a new post is live on appraisalbureau.com on the The Case for Independent Personal Property Appraisers.
Book Swap
Joanna, Data Science
Klein Bottle by Okajima Futari
I highly recommend this book due to the author's remarkable ability to craft a suspenseful masterpiece set in the 1980s, with a virtual reality backdrop. It is a perfect choice for anyone who enjoys gaming, science fiction, and Japanese mysteries, as it combines these elements beautifully.
Eliza, Appraisal Director
Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks by Patrick Radden Keefe
While the format of this book made it easy to pick up, the variety of subjects and quality of storytelling made it impossible to put down! Rogues is a collection of 12 articles from investigative journalist Patrick Radden Keefe’s time at The New Yorker. The dozen true stories illuminate the bad behaviors exhibited by hedge fund managers, bomb technicians, drug lords and forgers (to name but a few).
Eshwar, Data Science
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
I have to go with Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. It’s some of the best science fiction I’ve ever read because each idea in the book is incredibly creative! I also recently read Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid (my current favorite author after I read her previous book The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo). The book is a comeback story of a 37 year old retired tennis player who previously held the record for most titles and decides to come out of retirement when her record is threatened by a younger star. It was a very engaging read.
Sophie, Fine Art Appraisal Intern
Here/There: Telepresence, touch and Art at the Interface by Kris Paulsen
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
I'd recommend Kris Paulsen's Here/There: Telepresence, Touch and Art at the Interface. I read this book for a class and I return to it often, especially the sections on satellite communication and early video art. It's a really informative read, and it critically reflects on the intersections of art and technology. I also recently returned to Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon. I find Toni Morrison's writing style to be really captivating, and I definitely consider this book a must-read.
Caroline, Founder
A Thousand Brains, A New Theory of Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins
Jeff Hawkins discusses his theory about how we learn in A Thousand Brains, A New Theory of Intelligence, arguing that the brain creates a map-like structure with thousands of models of what we know, rather than a single model. Covering scientific to theoretical topics, like the human sense of self, this book is hard to put down.
Exhibitions Focus: Seattle
Seattle Art Museum
Amoako Boafo: Soul of Black Folks
July 13 - September 10, 2023
Ghanaian artist Amoako Boafo skillfully examines the Black experience of navigating identity in Soul of Black Folks, his debut solo museum exhibition. The selection of Boafo’s finger-painted portraits, created between 2016 and 2022, celebrate joy while simultaneously referencing the continued systemic oppression of people of color and the profound impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
SOIL
July 6 - July 29, 2023
In Killing Me Softly, the artists Philip Crawford, Nicolo Gentile, and Rachel Hsu showcase works that challenge conventional modes of meaning-making. While the exhibition showcases a cohesive aesthetic, each artist eases into complexity and mystery through defacement, withholding information, and meditating on the power of secret knowledge.
Winston Wächter Fine Art
Chris Trueman: Dividing the Light
July 5 - August 19, 2023
Chris Trueman's solo exhibition, Dividing the Light, makes the digital realm tangible. Trueman’s compositions highlight the malleability of painting as a medium capable of mimicking digital space. The indeterminate layers of vibrant gestural brushstrokes and spray paint toy with the dichotomy between illusion and reality.