Artist William Powhida has devised a power grid, a la New York Magazine, called, “If These Walls Could Talk – A Conversation” (2011) that will soon be going on display at the Charlie James Gallery in LA (February – April, 2011). It will also be part of the Marine “art salon” in Santa Monica, whatever that means. See the whole image much larger so you can read the text on his blog.
The New York Observer has a fascinating post about the new beast called the “professional collector.” Writer Anthony Haden-Guest explains, “collecting right now as having morphed far from its gloriously obsessive origins.”
“Good Future, Bad Future: on the Unauthenticated Avant-Garde” over at Idiom is a good read and it tackles the fascinating question, “Can an art experience be authentic even if the status of the work of art remains questionable?” I will say that I do cringe at some of the language, like “advanced capitalism” or “bourgeois,” both of which sound like something more related to the 19th or 20th Centuries rather than today.
NEA head, Rocco Landesman, is saying something few people in the arts want to hear, “You can either increase demand or decrease supply,” he said. “Demand is not going to increase, so it is time to think about decreasing supply.” In other words, brace yourselves.
Over at the Brooklyn Rail, publisher Phong Bui interviews the ubiquitous Joe Bradley. The interview goes beyond a typical Rail interview in that is probes more personal aspects of Bradley’s life, but does it enlighten his work? You be the judge.
And over at Art:21, there are some meditations on Black History, including discussions of the work of Kara Walker, Ellen Gallagher, Fred Wilson, and Kerry James Marshall.
Finally, as a curious aside, which really isn’t about art but is worth a look nonetheless, is this post about efforts to digitize all of Icelandic literature. The surprising thing is that the post mentions that the total literature of Iceland is under 50,000 books. Who knew. hat tip Joanne McNeil
More inside baseball in graph form please, Mr. Pow.
Totally agreed.
I just read the whole of Powida’s drawing. The one redeeming figure, “inspirational artist” Dawn Clements, stood out in what is otherwise a sea of cynicism about posturing, prizes, and deep pockets. Very entertaining read. Then after all is said and done, the text at the bottom offers a personal, though obviously informed, opinion that to have a successful career artists have to get their work shown in a reputable gallery, in a major urban art center, and have it written about. Ha! So I’m not sure where it went, but it’s a fun ride. Read it and get back to work I guess!