Posted inArt

Battle for the Nation: John Yau Questions Jerry Saltz’s America

In the newly released edition of the Brooklyn Rail, editor John Yau takes on New York Magazine’s art critic Jerry Saltz and his characterization of America as “big, bright, shiny, colorful, crowd-pleasing, heat-seeking, impeccably produced, polished, popular, expensive, and extroverted—while also being abrasive, creepily sexualized, fussy, twisted, and, let’s face it, ditzy.” Yau asks, “Is this ‘our America?’ Or is this Jerry Saltz shilling for Jeff Koons?”

Posted inArt

China Bulldozes Studios, Flash Mobs Follow, Avatar Invoked

While we live our artistic lives in the West in relative calm, if sometimes obscurity and poverty, artists in China face some very serious dangers from an autocratic government that only allows art to flower when it fits its political agenda. So when artists in China create a flash mob to protest the systematic destruction of artist studios, it is shocking that no one notices. Thankfully, Austrian blogger Karel has written something for mazine.ws about this vast injustice …

Posted inNews

An Extensive Roundup of Haitian Art in Jeopardy, London ICA’s Budget Crisis

… Florida’s Dail Museum needs money to complete its new building … a woman fell into a Rose Period Picasso last Friday at the Met and ignited some of the funniest blog comments I’ve ever read on a New York Times blog (don’t worry, both the woman & the Picasso will be fine) … Toronto’s Art Gallery of Ontario receives its biggest contemporary art donation ever … and a list of all the biennials you can look forward to in 2010.

Posted inArt

A Gallery Grows in Bushwick, Storefront Appears on the Scene

It’s obvious that Jason Andrew and Deborah Brown don’t like to sit around waiting for things to happen, which may explain why they have become cornerstones in Bushwick, Brooklyn’s art scene. Andrew is the driving force behind Norte Maar, an apartment cultural space on Wyckoff Avenue that has played host to some impressive visual arts, musical and performance shows over the past five years, while Brown helped organize the first Bushwick Open Studios and sits on local Community Board #4 as a constant cheerleader for all things culture and Bushwick. The two have joined forces to create Storefront gallery with the mission to promote emerging Bushwick artists and to revisit the work of established talents.

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The Center of Art: A Conversation with Critic & Curator Karen Wilkin

She’s one of New York’s old skool art critics and has penned books on everyone from David Smith to Edward Gorey. An authority on 20th C. modernism, Karen Wilkin agreed to talk to Hyperallergic about her experience as a longtime observer of the art world and in the process she spoke about an art world “afraid of missing out on something,” and she offers some advice to aspiring critics.

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Assassination of Danish ‘Muhammad’ Cartoonist Foiled, Burj Khalifa Opens, Arts Audience in US Shrinks

… a new modern art museum in Charlotte, North Carolina, opens … Arizona’s defunct West Valley Art Museum needs a place to store its art … British arts institutions are getting short changed by the 2012 Olympics … Bank of America gives its customers free admission to LA museums … Michael Jackson’s art continues to raise eyebrows.

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2010 Here We Come!

Just in case you hadn’t noticed, we’re on vacation until Monday, January 4, 2010. While we’re away we’re making plans, dealing with programmers, and doing other things to make you all feel warm and fuzzy.

In the meantime, we wish you all an amazing New Year’s Eve and look forward to you joining us for a great 2010!