Working Girl: On Selling Art and Selling Sex

The portrait of a young artist making both a living and a life

As a young artist trying to make a living in New York without sacrificing all her time to paying rent, Sophia Giovannitti turned to sex work: first, telling herself it was part of her art, and then quickly accepting it as simply the way to make the most money in the shortest possible time. Weaving between the art world and the sex industry, she learned how much the two markets have in common: both built on the buying and selling of creativity and desire, authenticity and intimacy. The power of each lies in believing--or pretending--they can provide meaning outside of monetary exchange.

In this searching and provocative work, moving from the author's own experiences to political analyses and the workings of the contemporary art world, Giovannitti asks how we might face the great dilemma of the art and sex industries head on: what happens to desire, beauty, creativity, and autonomy when everything is a transaction? Giovannitti finds a way to commit her life to art, to intimacy, and to freedom on her own terms.

Author: Sophia Giovannitti
Publisher: Verso
Published: 05/30/2023
Pages: 192
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.74lbs
Size: 8.35h x 5.43w x 0.79d
ISBN13: 9781839766701
ISBN10: 1839766700
BISAC Categories:
- Biography & Autobiography | Personal Memoirs
- Biography & Autobiography | Women
- Social Science | Prostitution & Sex Trade

About the Author
Sophia Giovannitti is a writer and conceptual artist based in New York. She has written on gender, sex, and labor for The New Inquiry, n+1, Document Journal, and SSENSE, among others. Her videos and performance-based studies have been shown at Recess, the Athens Biennale, Duplex, and PPOW, among others.