 12/02/05 Artforum
It just wouldnt be December without it: A global cast of critics, curators, and artists deliver their top ten picks in the Best of 2005, Artforums annual special issue featuring the years highlights from the world of art. Robert Storr, Alison M. Gingeras, Ann Goldstein, Martin Herbert, Thelma Golden, John Kelsey, Robert Rosenblum, Isabelle Graw, Matthew Higgs, Daniel Birnbaum, and Jack Bankowsky look back at 2005s best and brightest, ranging from Paul McCarthys drunken cavalry at the Haus der Kunst in Munich to Robert Bechtles photorealist retrospective at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and from Gelitins giant pink Rabbit on a hillside in Artesina, Italy, to Marc Quinns Alison Lapper Pregnant in Londons Trafalgar Square. Also: John Waters, Amy Taubin, Chrissie Iles, Isaac Julien, Dennis Cooper, Susie Ibarra, Debra Singer, Yve-Alain Bois, Pamela M. Lee, Trisha Donnelly, Jonathan Crary, and many more select the best of 2005 in film, music, and books. As part of its year-end wrap-up, Artforum continues the annual feature, On the Ground, inviting insiders from seven cities--New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Berlin, Moscow, and Tokyo--to survey local currents in art (and life) over the past year. Gavin Browns Enterprise--with its annex, Passerby--remains preeminent as a precursor to newer scene galleries like Maccarone Inc., Rivington Arms, Daniel Reich Gallery, and Reena Spaulings Fine Art, many of them located either in the hipster hell of the Lower East Side, or in the even weirder no-mans-land of Chinatown.--David Rimanelli on New York Plus: The Artists Artists. Tomma Abts, Doug Aitken, AA Bronson, Candice Breitz, Cai-Guo Qiang, Liam Gillick, Damian Loeb, Jonathan Meese, Julie Mehretu, Takashi Murakami, Chris Ofili, Seth Price, Yinka Shonibare, Katja Strunz, and many others reveal which shows mattered to the most exacting audience of all. This show gave me butterflies, screwed me up, and made me cry.--Martin Creed on Edvard Munch at the Royal Academy of Arts, London And, placing art in the context of a broader visual culture, Artforum asks three key thinkers to dilate on topics they consider to be of particular relevance as the first half of the decade fades out. In his essay Double Exposure, art historian Hal Foster considers whether our preoccupation with modernisms end has to some extent blinded us to the continuing narrative of modernization itself. Next, political philosopher Slavoj Zizek deconstructs the twisted ethical link between Guantánamos ghost prisoners and the pro-life arguments in Americas divisive Terri Schiavo case. Finally, architect and theorist Denise Scott Brown looks at urban disasters from throughout the twentieth century in order to ask What Should New Orleans Do?--concluding that the citys predicament demands a visionary rethinking of architecture and urban planning. All that, plus: Carol Armstrong investigates The Perfect Medium at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Arthur C. Danto assesses Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Daniel Birnbaum, and Gunnar B. Kvarans Uncertain States of America at the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo; and Jeffrey Weiss wallows in Melancholy at Galeries Nationale du Grand Palais, Paris. To preview the December Best of 2005 issue and take advantage of our special holiday subscription offer, visit Artforum at http://www.artforum.com Visit artguide--Artforums free directory to the international art world, listing art fairs, auctions, and current gallery and museum shows in over 400 cities--at http://www.artforum.com/guide |
