Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Scaredy Cats



The new May issue of Artillery is out now. It was a bitch to get out, but it's done and I haven't heard too many negative comments. In fact, quite the opposite. So if you're reading this, quick, go out and get your new Artillery.

NOTE: I wrote the above last week, and was interrupted. So there's an update on that positive note. Actually, there's been a few negative comments. I've been applauded for my editor's letter, cutting no slack for our advertisers that dropped out because of our last SEX issue. I'm still quite puzzled about that. I mean, this is the art world, right, that Artillery covers. WTF, is all I can say. 

But now, apparently some people are upset because we covered the MOCA controversy, concerning the hiring of Jeffrey Deitch. WTF again, I say. Are we supposed to put our head in the sand and not talk about this? Was our coverage just supposed to be all positive and cheery and STUPID? The art world is indeed a funny place. So many people to please, that it's impossible to please everyone.

So, obviously we do what one does in that situation. Please themselves. My job--to cover things in the art world that ARE controversial. And present both sides if we can. I felt that's what we did with the Deitch coverage. 

If folks can't handle that, then we are in a very bad way. When I get flack for speaking honestly, that fuels me to go forward, and tells me I'm on the right track. There's a lot of scared people in the art world. I feel sorry for them.





Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Going through the Motions


It's been a week now since I've left Spain. What a whirlwind of art. The mixing of time periods did a number on me. Just seeing the history of all that art made my head spin. It made me think of what kind of art history are we creating now?

My last visit in a museum in Madrid was at the Thyssen-Bornemisza. We visited the early modern collection which was just stellar. Most of the collection was paintings. There was an early Willem de Kooning that was to die for, Hombre Rojo con Bigote (1971), pictured.  Edward Goldman, of the Art Talk KCRW fame accompanied me, and he was a joy to go around and look at art with — especially in the museums, and especially in Europe.  There was a bench in front of the de Kooning, and we sat down and stared deeply, and blankly, into the painting. Then Edward began to tell a story about how de Kooning had Alzheimer's for the latter part of his life, but kept on painting. How the assistants would wheel him in front of an empty canvas, have his palette ready (colors that they were very rehearsed in mixing), then lift his hand with the glob of paint on it, and set his hand in motion, sort of a kick-start. Then Willem would be off and running. 

These latter paintings received mixed reviews. One would say that de Kooning was literally just "going through the motions." Of course art dealers and auctioneers would say they were just as important, but as we stared at the painting before us, with the colors dripping and mixing and moving, it was hard to imagine someone painting without their mind. Edward argued that one does need their mind to paint, as the hands of a painter are just their tools. 

I agreed with him wholeheartedly, being a painter myself (back in the day). We swiveled in our seats to see the Rothko painting on the other wall. We looked at that, and wondered what is it about Rothkos! I said that maybe we're supposed to go to the Rothko chapel to really "see" what all the fuss is about.

That was my last day at a museum in Madrid. The next day I took off a day of art, and went around eating, shopping, walking, dodging in and out of cafes to avoid the sporadic rain, and it was a glorious day in Madrid. Every time the sun came out, we'd say, "Oh look, the sun's coming out and it's not going to rain again." The five minutes later, there'd be a downpour. 

Life doesn't get much better.