New on Art Agenda: “Rearview”
At what point in contemporary art history did critical writing become so uncritical? Considering the zeitgeist, it is befuddling that complacency plagues most published exhibition reviews.
These are the times that call for critical reviews that take a bite out of crime: the crime of banality, the crime of self-satisfaction, the crime of fear—the fear of being ostracized for breaking unspoken rules of the art game.
In 1966, Robert Smithson penned one such review, fearlessly critiquing the work of his peers Robert Rauschenberg and John Cage, among others. We have recently republished Smithson’s review of the show “9 evenings: Theatre and Engineering” and in the future we’ll be publishing more of those reviews worth re-viewing in a new section called “Rearview.” Initiated by Art Agenda Editor April Lamm, “Rearview” will feature monthly reviews from times past, which will be selected and introduced by Art Agenda’s writers.
Recent reviews:
Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami
December 1–4, 2011
Jonathan T. D. Neil takes a dig at the dissonance at Art Basel Miami Beach a few weeks after the eviction of “Occupy Wall Street” protestors in Zuccotti Park: “harmony is for hippy losers,” while Dave Harper steps outside the fair and finds himself poolside at the Raleigh, “between the poor attempting to look rich and the rich even more pitifully attempting to look poor.”
read Jonathan T.D. Neil’s review
read Dave Harper’s review
Hong Hao’s “AS IT IS” at Beijing Commune, Beijing
November 26, 2011–February 26, 2012
Pauline J. Yao shows us the B-side of Hong Hao’s obsessive world at Beijing Commune, Beijing.
read
Luis Camnitzer’s “Reflejos y Reflexiones” at Parra & Romero, Madrid
November 3, 2011–January 14, 2012
Lorena Muñoz-Alonso follows the rabbit down the hole of Luis Camnitzer’s “Reflejos y Reflexiones” at Parra & Romero, Madrid.
read
“Start. Reloaded” at Grieder Contemporary, Zurich
October 28, 2011–January 21, 2012
Aoife Rosenmeyer unfolds the story behind Grieder Contemporary’s downtown Zurich reboot.
read
Eileen Quinlan’s “Constant Comment” at Overduin and Kite, Los Angeles
November 20, 2011–January 7, 2012
Kevin McGarry goes behind the semio[p]tics of Eileen Quinlan’s crazy quilts at Overduin and Kite in Los Angeles.
read
“The Mystery of Appearance” at Haunch of Venison, London
December 7, 2011–February 18, 2012
Laura McLean-Ferris explores the mysteries of the London School at Haunch of Venison (and, no, the swinging 60s are not what they seem).
read
“Des(enho)” at Galeria Casas Riegner, Bogota
November 23, 2011–January 27, 2012
Mariangela Méndez examines the drawings that are anything but drawings in “Des(enho)” at Galeria Casas Riegner, Bogotá.
read
Laura Horelli’s “The Terrace” at Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin
November 25, 2011–January 7, 2012
John Beeson unravels Laura Horelli’s tangled web at Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin.
read
Diane Arbus and August Sander at Edwynn Houk Gallery, Zurich
November 17, 2011–January 14, 2012
Quinn Latimer gracefully shows us how not to doublethink the double billing of Diane Arbus & August Sander at Edwynn Houk Gallery, Zurich.
read
Wilfredo Prieto’s “The Emperor’s New Clothes” Annet Gelink Gallery, Amsterdam
November 25, 2011–January 21, 2012
Maaike Lauwaert queries the transparency of ideas behind Wilfredo Prieto’s “The Emperor’s New Clothes” at Annet Gelink Gallery, Amsterdam.
read
Andrea Bowers’s “The New Woman’s Survival Guide” at Andrew Kreps, New York
October 29, 2012–January 7, 2012
New-wave feminism? Alan Gilbert takes a look at Andrea Bowers’s interpolations at Andrew Kreps, New York.
read
