In a new novel about a contemporary female artist, the chapter titles borrow from the names of real-world artworks, mostly by contemporary female artists. Very private little random possibilities, Chloe Wise, 2021; Small Beasts, Louise Howard, 2022; Trouble Moving On?, Issy Wood, 2021; Untitled (Pig Woman), Cindy Sherman, 1986.
Maybe the reader pauses to search on Google Images, scrolling with one hand while holding the hardback in the other. Or, if the reader bought the “eccentric novel about what it means to make art as a woman,” perhaps she is already aware of the art. Maybe is even one of some 213,000 people following the Instagram of Canadian painter Chloe Wise. The author presumes she’s familiar with Wise’s grid of fleshy, feminine anatomy and with her cultural cachet. If the reader doesn’t get the reference, she probably won’t “get” the book.
