Wendy, Master of Art

"[In Wendy, Master of Art, ] Scott manages a rare thing: the sharpness of his satire doesn't preclude a realistic rendering of personhood, and the seeming flatness opens up, at every turn, to a depth of feeling.... His mastery of his characters' faces and gestures is also wonderful, his line quick and sure and expressive." --The New Yorker

The existential dread of making (or not making) art takes center stage in this trenchant satire of MFA culture

Wendy is an aspiring contemporary artist whose adventures have taken her to galleries, art openings, and parties in Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Toronto. In Wendy, Master of Art, Walter Scott's sly wit and social commentary zero in on MFA culture as our hero hunkers down to complete a master of fine arts at the University of Hell in small-town Ontario.

Finally Wendy has space to refine her artistic practice, but in this calm, all of her unresolved insecurities and fears explode at full volume--usually while hungover. What is the post-Jungian object as symbol? Will she ever understand her course reading--or herself? What if she's just not smart enough? As she develops as an artist and a person, Wendy also finds herself in a teaching position, mentoring a perpetually sobbing grade-grubbing undergrad.

Scott's incisively funny take on art school pretensions isn't the only focus. Wendy, Master of Art explores the politics of open relationships and polyamory, performative activism, the precariousness of a life in the arts, as well as the complexities of gender identity, sex work, drug use, and more. At its heart, this is a book about the give and take of community--about learning to navigate empathy and boundaries, and to respect herself. It is deeply funny and endlessly relatable as it shows Wendy growing from millennial art party girl to successful artist, friend, teacher--and Master of Art.

Author: Walter Scott
Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly
Published: 06/16/2020
Pages: 276
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.60lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.50w x 0.90d
ISBN: 9781770463998


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 04/06/2020
Library Journal 06/01/2020 pg. 72

About the Author
Walter Scott is an interdisciplinary artist working in comics, drawing, video, performance, and sculpture. His comic series Wendy chronicles the continuing misadventures of a young artist in a satirical imagining of the contemporary art world. Wendy has been published in two volumes by Koyama Press and was featured in Canadian Art, and Art in America, and on the New Yorker website, and was selected for the 2016 edition of Best American Comics. Scott completed an MFA at the University of Guelph in 2018. Wendy, Master of Art is, as far as you know, very loosely based on this experience.