Contributed by Laurie Fendrich / Without any bombs exploding or even a single shot fired, the world we knew before COVID has gone “poof.” Sure, buildings are intact; trees, grass and flowers still grow; the sky is blue; people walk on streets and drive cars. What’s disappeared, for who knows how long, is the ease … read more… “What good is abstract painting now?”
Author: Editor
Art and Film: In the zone
Contributed by Jonathan Stevenson / In 1959, at the height of the Cold War, Rod Serling trademarked the creeping alteration of reality as a feature of post-Golden Age television with the advent of The Twilight Zone. Introducing the series premier in his intense nasal baritone – unique yet perpetually mimicked – Serling located the zone … read more… “Art and Film: In the zone”
In the absence of knowing
Contributed by Sharon Butler / Theodore:Art has reopened its Bushwick space with a handsome and enigmatic show that reminds me of the series of Bruno Bischofberger ads that has occupied the back cover of every issue of Artforum since April 1987. As a painting student at Mass Art, I subscribed to the magazine on and … read more… “In the absence of knowing”
Consciousness raising: Social media
Contributed by Sharon Butler / The time has come to leave Facebook and engage in online activities elsewhere. Difficult though it may seem to leave the art community that we’ve established on that platform, and the ease we feel with the software, I’ve decided to encourage a migration to Tumblr, a microblogging tool that has … read more… “Consciousness raising: Social media”
Quick study: A new day
Contributed by Sharon Butler / Here is a selection of art articles I’ve gathered from sites around the internet this week, including Painters on Painting, The New Yorker, NY Times, artnet, Hyperallergic, NPR, and Dance Theater of Harlem. At the end, look for a link to a Mother Jones article about Trump’s pathologies, and a … read more… “Quick study: A new day”
Covid-19: A cultural draft notice
Contributed by Jonathan Stevenson / The current of disgust, loathing, and anger in the liberal white consciousness has been pretty steady since Donald Trump was elected president, extinguishing a delicate consensus that the country was moving in more or less in the right direction. Of course, for people like me – white, male, late boomer/early … read more… “Covid-19: A cultural draft notice”
Radical reorientation: Leaving New York
Contributed by Sharon Butler / Joy Garnett, an artist I met via her formidable art blog NEWSgrist (“where spin is art”) in the early art blogging days, has just left Brooklyn. On social media I discovered that she has packed up her studio and apartment and moved to the high desert in Nevada. Shock and … read more… “Radical reorientation: Leaving New York”
Quick study: The quiet city
Contributed by Sharon Butler / How’s everyone doing out there? The streets of New York have calmed down in the past few weeks, with far fewer sirens, although the neighbors still hang out the windows to make a racket at 7pm, celebrating the quietly heroic medical personnel and other essential workers. Governor Cuomo announced that … read more… “Quick study: The quiet city”
On the road: Take five in Buffalo
Contributed by Jason Andrew / It seems only fitting that University at Buffalo, an institution built on the reputation of one of the great female art dealers of the 20th century, Martha Jackson, would be the one to raise the bar that much higher when it comes to “women’s work.” “Take Five” featured the work … read more… “On the road: Take five in Buffalo”
Remote: Teaching art online
Contributed by Peter Plagens / Serious studio art classes cannot be taught online. Oh, they can be “taught”—if the professors and students accept, in a parallel to what my father used to say about cheap frozen pizza, a “cheese-like substance” in place of real cheese. That is, if everybody settles for an antiseptic virtual classroom … read more… “Remote: Teaching art online”