Art
The Bigger Than Life Team Behind Paul McCarthy's Inflammatory Inflatables
In the last few weeks, Paul McCarthy has catapulted into the public imagination as the infamous artist firmly behind Paris's ill-fated "Tree" (aka #pluggate).
Cat Weaver
Art
How To Talk About Paul McCarthy
What, I ask you, should one expect if one asks artist Paul McCarthy to create a Christmas tree for the place of honor at a renowned, must-attend art fair? Well, it’s Paul McCarthy, so there are only two possible outcomes: a turd or a butt plug.
Interview
MoMA's Postconceptual Curators
Ever since 2009, when the Museum of Modern Art expanded its Department of Media to include performance art (it is now the Department of Media and Performance Art), it has been both praised and criticized for its focus on acquiring transdisciplinary and postconceptual work that is often ephemeral, li
Art
How to Talk About Norman Rockwell
You must, and shall, begin every single conversation about Norman Rockwell by addressing the question: "Is it art?" And then you must, and shall, say: "It is illustration."
Art
How to Talk About Oscar Murillo
I know what you're thinking. There can't be a 'how to talk about Oscar Murillo' because we don't have a decade or so of commentary, he's too new to have talking points. He's 28 for God's sake, you protest.
Art
At the Armory Show, Dealer's Delight
On the penultimate day of the Armory Show, galleries were reporting sold out booths, sales pushed from in-house inventory, new connections and clients discovered, and not one bit of weariness.
Art
How to Talk About Art: Christopher Wool Edition (#H2TAA)
Even though Wool has been blue-chip long enough (since 2010) to make him a staple on a newbie collector’s wish list and the likely star of many a speculator's wet dream, post-auction media rhapsodizing about the “record price” “achieved” by his 1988 painting “Apocalypse Now” has become the gateway t
Art
How to Talk About Art: Banksy's 3 Ps (#H2TAA)
The best way to begin talking about Banksy, right now, following his October New York Residency, would be to NOT talk about Banksy. Not just because of the press overload, but because there’s something big that the media has been ignoring … and that’s context.
Francis Bacon
How to Talk About Art: Francis Bacon and Lucien Freud Edition (#H2TAA)
As Christie’s preps to sell off Francis Bacon's "Three Studies of Lucian Freud" for a possible record price of $100 million, it may be a good time to bone up on your talking points for both of these canonized artists.
Art
How to Talk About Art: Brevity Is Not Sol LeWitt Edition (#H2TAA)
Did I hear you sigh with half relief/half regret thinking you would never have to talk about Sol LeWitt again? Poor fool, that time will never come!
Opinion
Will the Art Market Ever Regulate Itself?
Regulation in the world of art commerce is a troublesome word.
Opinion
Mr. Brainwash's Brain-dead Copyright Defense
Warhol settled three times, and then played by the rules. Jeff Koons settled four times and then won. Sherry Levine avoids intellectual property pitfalls by agreeing not to sell. The Shep lost a big one to AP, but has otherwise ducked controversy. And Richard Prince currently rules the co-opting cad