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# Art Bum Takes on Joannou, Saltz & “Hooverville”
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/art-bum-joannou-saltz-powhida/
- Published: 2010-03-23T22:10:02.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T15:49:16.000Z
- Description: I’m a big fan of artist Lawrence Swan’s Art Bum series, which follows the life of a frustrated artist who feels alienated from the sexy Art World of fame, fortune and major retrospectives. Given Art Bum’s critique of all things Art World, I was happy to see that Swan’s most recent strip targeted a n
- Author: Hrag Vartanian
- Tags: Opinion, #image-position-hidden, Dakis Joannou, Jerry Saltz, William Powhida, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2025-11-17 09:23 (2009-2011)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2010/03/yacht-dakis-lawrence-big.jpg)

Dakis Joannou’s yacht above & Swan’s take below (click to enlarge)

I’m a big fan of artist Lawrence Swan’s [*Art Bum* series](http://newcleanblog.blogspot.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com), which follows the life of a frustrated artist who feels alienated from the sexy Art World of fame, fortune and major retrospectives. The tragic hero has a rat sidekick, think *Maus* but grittier.

Given Art Bum’s critique of all things Art World, I was happy to see that Swan’s most recent strip targeted three personalities that are currently dominating art chatter in New York: collector/New Museum trustee Dakis Joannou, *New York Magazine* art critic/Facebook art celebrity Jerry Saltz, and artist/critic William Powhida.

While Joannou and Saltz have long been fodder for art world gossip, Powhida is new to this level of art world fame. He’s experiencing a major moment precipitated by his controversial [*Brooklyn Rail* cover](http://williampowhida.blogspot.com/2009/11/november-brooklyn-rail-cover.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) back in November, the [*New York Times* profile](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/arts/design/07powhida.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) in December, his co-curation of #class at Winkleman Gallery which *Times* critic [Holland Cotter reported on](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/19/arts/design/19galleries-002.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) but didn’t review, and his recent “[Hooverville](http://www.williampowhida.com/Hooverville%5Fbw%5Fpress.jpg?ref=hyperallergic.com)” drawing (created with Jade Townsend), which lampoons and celebrates the art world and its plutocracy.

Art critics have only started to openly debate Powhida’s work — which is a good thing — and the reactions have varied from the perception that [he is feigning an outsider status that isn’t real](http://www.artfagcity.com/2010/03/12/this-week-in-comments-part-two-powhida/?ref=hyperallergic.com) (which [he denies](http://williampowhida.blogspot.com/2010/03/hooverville-catastrofuck.html?ref=hyperallergic.com)) to others being [excited by his brash slaps to the face of the art world](http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2010/03/saltz%5Fwilliam%5Fpowhida%5Fis%5Fmakin.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) and its gods. I think to truly understand Powhida is to look at what I’d call his literary imagination, but that’s another post for another time.

I asked Swan why he chose to lampoon Joannou, Saltz, and Powhida? And he responded:

> Add Swan to that list of the lampooned. I thought Powhida and the other guy (Townsend) had a brilliant idea with “Hooverville.” I wanted to describe another allegory without going to the trouble of actually drawing it. Also, I recently realized that Powhida had been doing trompe l’oeil drawings of notebook pages long before I started and it appeared I’d stolen the idea, and maybe I had. Dakis Joannou is currently the representative Capitalist for the Capitalized Art World (art bum represents the lower case art world). Saltz is bad for my high blood pressure.

Points taken.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2010/03/artbum-joannou-saltz-powhida-med.jpg)

Art Bum’s latest adventures take part on a Koons/Joannou yacht-inspired paper boat. (Click to enlarge) (via Lawrence Swan)

Source: [newcleanblog](http://newcleanblog.blogspot.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com)