Quick Study: Turner Prize, Miami, Zwirner, and, yes, surfing

In line with recent custom, the one painter shortlisted for the Turner Prize–Lynette Yiadom-Boakye–was passed over. Via NYTimes: “The artist Laure Prouvost, whose works combine whimsical objects and drawings in evocative settings with an Instagram-like stream of film images, has won this year�s Turner Prize, the prestigious and often contentious annual award for a British artist under 50.” Image above: Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, The Generosity, 2010.

Two Coats of Paint has roped painter-blogger Mary Addison Hackett into serving as our Miami correspondent this year. A painter currently working out of Nashville, Hackett (press pass picture on right) has blogged about her painting practice at Process  since 2005. If you see her wandering around, say hello and invite her to a party. Follow her on Twitter @maryaddhackett.

For anyone who is heading south, check out Hyperallergic’s  Essential Guide to the Miami Art Fairs.

The New Yorker published a profile of dealer David Zwirner last week. Basically, the article confirms that it takes a lot of money to run an A-list gallery and that learning to surf could be a good career move. In the last paragraph, when writer Nick Paumgarten visits Zwirner at his summer house in Montauk, the dealer laments the changes taking place in the East End fishing community:

On our way to buy a striped bass for lunch, [Zwirner] pulled into a lot at the beach to get a look at the surf, and ran into another gallery owner who�d just finished surfing, and whom he talked about afterward as a member of a clique of cool art people and surfers whom he doesn�t really hang out with in Montauk. He has the air of a family man who is resigned to being a square�let �em laugh. He complained about hipsters taking over the town and took me to Gosman�s, a fish market, where a fleet of commercial trawlers were docked. �This is real, and that�s what�s good about Montauk,� he said. He had a romantic attraction to the rusting, gear-strewn vessels and to the idea, at least, of good hard labor at sea�and he rued the trawlers� eventual obsolescence. �You just know we�ll all be eating farm fish soon,� he said. He went inside and stood in line to buy a wild striper.

Paumgarten seems to be highlighting Zwirner’s obtuseness. He rues the decline of the working-class fisherman in Montauk, yet stokes an analogous dynamic in the art world, where the top galleries and auction houses suck up most of the money and leave mid-level galleries (and artists) struggling to survive.

In Harper’s Ben Lerner writes a thoughtful piece about what art is worth, with an emphasis on art vandalism and how it affects market value. It’s behind a paywall, but worth a read.

From the press release:

Despite the art world�s record breaking prices and the prevailing,
monstrous bloat, we�re confident that there is great reward in the
jubilant straightforwardness of the 8 artists presented. Bradford,
Hauser, Miler, Mrozowski and Petras live and work in Brooklyn. Minov
was in residence in Manhattan at LMCC�s Worskpace 2013 program and was
born and continues to work in Sofia, Bulgaria. Matt Stokes is
represented by ZieherSmith and lives and works in Blaydon on Tyne,
England. Crawford remains a mystery.

Ed Winkleman says: Everyone should stop talking about the market and start looking at art again.

The Creative Capital /Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grants have been announced, and Two Coats of Paint is on the list! Oh happy day—> and big congratulations to all.