Art
What is the Role of the Artist?
LOS ANGELES — "What is the role of the artist?" I'm used to hearing this question in college seminars and rant sessions after opening parties. Artist Sheryl Oring tried a different tack.
Latest
Art
Sarah Palin and the Arts in Alaska
CHICAGO — The LA Times reported on February 20 that there's been a bit of a kerfuffle about a public sculpture in Wasilla, Alaska, the town that will forever be associated with ex-mayor of Wasilla and former half-term governor Sarah Palin, though it turns out that the story has absolutely nothing to
Art
Attack of the Heads or Os Gêmeos in LA
LOS ANGELES — Perched atop the Prism Gallery is a giant, yellow face with slender eyelashes, narrow eyes and prominent nose. It competes for attention against the many billboards and vehicles along this stretch of Sunset Blvd. The squinty eyes and yellow complexion are outlandishly drawn, but the po
News
Christo’s Colorado Project Postponed, Environmentalists Continue Fight to Stop It
The artist Christo continues to battle to realize his “Over the River” project in Colorado, announcing last week that the controversial work hopes to go up a year later than planned. The new exhibition date for “Over the River,” which involves the creation of a canopy of shiny polypropylene fabric o
News
Today Only: Remembering Mike Kelley in Eagle Rock
LOS ANGELES — LA's art world has been in mourning ever since artist Mike Kelley died earlier this month, an apparent suicide. At the College Art Association conference and at various events, artists and art lovers are finding ways to remember him and keep his work alive. The most poignant and effect
Opinion
Required Reading
This week, whither Santa Fe? a newbie goes to the Miami art fairs, Marina Abramović makes German men cry, Elmgreen & Dragset Fourth Plinth sculpture unveiled, UK's guerrilla tree sculptor and more.
Art
Poets and Popcorn
America, says Charlie Citrine in Saul Bellow’s novel Humboldt’s Gift (1975), is proud of its dead poets. Especially the mad ones: the bridge-leapers, the drink-guzzlers, the pill-snackers. Robert Lowell thought everyone was tired of his turmoil, but he obviously wasn’t thinking ahead to the possibil
Books
Hiroshima, Mon Amour
Once when I was breaking up with a girlfriend, she told me, “You act like a nice guy, but really you’re not.” Or maybe she said, “You pretend to be a nice guy,” I can’t quite remember. Anyway, I was taken aback. Would it be better to just habitually act like an asshole, rather than trying to do so a
Art
No Names Allowed Beyond Here
At the far end of the main gallery Thomas Scheibitz mounted the painting "Untitled (No. 632)" on a slant within an inset in the wall of Tanya Bonakdar Gallery. Its four rectangles, thinly painted in rose and violet washes or a combination of violet, green and brown, with varying densities of white b
Interview
On the Necessity of Thinking Big: A Talk with Jason Andrew
A week ago, on the night of Friday, February 17th, two incongruently mirrored exhibitions opened on either side of the East River: Charles Atlas’ The Illusion of Democracy at Luhring Augustine’s new Bushwick outpost; and What I Know, a large group show of Bushwick artists, curated by Jason Andrew, a
Art
Why Occupy Wall Street Deserved AFCRPAAaA's Best Jerry Award
I would be lying if I didn't admit that I had a great deal of fun at last night's Art Fag City Rob Pruitt Art Awards and Auction (AFCRPAAaA) and I was happy to be a part of it and see Occupy Wall Street receive the Best Jerry Award from Jerry Saltz himself.
Opinion
Occupy Wall Street Gets a New Logo
In their quest for a unified logo, the Occupy Movement sifted through 8,319 submissions from 1,591 designers until they agreed upon a minimal design by maspoji™ — and no, we're not sure if the trademark symbol is ironic or not.