Artopia

Zhang Huan,12 Square Meters, 1994. Bubble Gum Artopia pays no attention to the Chinese art bubble, nor to the bigger art bubble in general. Bubbles come and go. The Bigger Bubble is tied to the stock market. The stock market drops and the art market follows one year later. It has happened twice on my watch. Now it is real estate, everywhere but in New York City high-income zip codes, that is plummeting. Will art follow? Some say that the economy is now worldwide and that money piling up in the … [Read more...]

Hannah Wilke, Untitled, 1974. Photos and chewing gum. (not in exhibition) Death Isn't Fun Sometimes art takes time. Time is distance. Some art is best seen later, in the past tense. Or if not exactly in the past tense, since all objects and images are technically present-tense, then "once removed." Hannah Wilke (1940-93) made that kind of art. Ironically, at first glance, her art was all about herself, all about her body, and was open to the charge of narcissism. Now it seems likely she was … [Read more...]

Richard Pousette-Dart (1916-1992) Lost in the Beginnings of Infinity, 1991. Acrylic on linen, diameter 72 inches. Private collection, Vienna © Richard Pousette-Dart by ARS, New York, 2007 The Final Cut Editing as authoring -- one of my themes today -- is not a rehash of Roland Barthes' death-of-the-author. The author may have been misplaced, but he or she is still alive and not just a mask for a group of anonymous meddlers or the imperatives of cultural context. Excuse me for being … [Read more...]

Richard Serra, Sequence, 2006. Weatherproof steel. Overall: 12'9" x 40' 8 3/8" x 65' 2 3/16" (3.9 x 12.4 x 19.9 m). Collection the artist © 2007 Richard Serra / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Lorenz Kienzle Sculpture Returns The highly focused Richard Serra survey now at the Museum of Modern Art (to September 10) is at last the justification for that institution's cold and unpopular expansion. There's only 27 works, and the whole deal is outweighed -- if you will excuse the pun … [Read more...]

Isaac Abrams, Cosmic Orchid, 1967 Day-Glo Days You should see, if you can, "Summer of Love: Art of the Psychedelic Era," now at the Whitney Museum, N.Y.C., to September 16. This first-time survey of the art so many would like to forget comes full-blown, paradoxes and all, from the Tate Liverpool, curated by its director Christoph Grunenberg. Certainly one strand of the art-history braid belongs to the spiritual in art. The two types of spiritual art are the propagandistic and the instrumental, … [Read more...]

Alice Neel, Self-Portrait, 1980 Go Ask Alice, If You Dare Have I said enough about maverick painter Alice Neel? You can read what I wrote in 2000, by going to my website . It's an insider's view, since I recount my experience as a nude victim for that merciless realist. On the other hand, I have heard my little essay is sometimes used as a prime example of storytelling as art criticism. For another angle on Neel (1900-1984), one might turn to someone in her biological family rather than her … [Read more...]

Art Amnesia Memory can contradict art history. Sometimes it makes one lose faith in that unfortunate discipline, which, like history itself, is subject to the whims of the present. Once the witnesses have passed on, leaving no trace, history as written becomes truth. History is always in the present tense. Like the history of the world, art history belongs to the winners. "Wack!" in L.A. no doubt leaves out many deserving feminist artists; "Global Feminisms" manages to omit quite a few out of a … [Read more...]

Regina Jose Galindo: Who Can Erase the Traces? ,2003. Street performance with blood, leaving footprints. "Global Feminisms," an exhibition of artworks by 87 women artists born since1960 is now at the Brooklyn Museum (through July 1) and will inspire debate on many topics. Is Body Art now the feminist language? Is the feminist historical survey WACK! now at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA L.A. and scheduled for P.S. 1 next year enough of a reason for "Feminisms" to avoid all art elders in the … [Read more...]

Charles LeDray, Party Bed, 2006-7, 25 3/4" x 49 1/4" x 4 1/2" Small Is Beautiful An exhibition of recent work by Charles LeDray (Sperone Westwater, 415 West 13th Street, to March 24) deals again with scale, gender, and the handmade in art. This time around most of the works are of sewn cloth. No tiny sculptures carved from human bone; no cases filled with miniature, perfectly thrown vessels. New to me are necklaces on bust forms and an array of pincushions, which are, of course, in the tradition … [Read more...]

Gordon Matta-Clark: Splitting: Four Corners, 1974 (Courtesy, SFMoMA) 1. Gone Too Soon Several themes are suggested by the Gordon Matta-Clark exhibition now at the Whitney (945 Madison Ave., to June 3, 2007), not the least of which is the early-death conundrum. Why do the best and brightest seem to die before they are 40? Here's a list: Eva Hesse (1936-70), Robert Smithson (1938-73), Matta-Clark (1943-78), Ana Mendieta (1949-85). Many without talent die young too, and perfectly decent artists … [Read more...]