In an age of waning newspaper circulation, and rapidly shrinking arts coverage in the printed press, critics are having to invent new ways to bring their reviews to the public and to finance their work. I'd like you to help keep me uptodate with the new face of arts journalism.
There is no doubt that journalists are having to get fantastically creative. Spot.us is a website by which people can donate money to pay for a journalist to go and investigate a particular issue that people feel concerned about. Lori Waxman was an art critic for Parachute and Modern Painters etc but was finding it harder and harder to get her work commissioned. She has now turned her art criticism into an art form. She has generous funding as an artist-art critic and her project is called the 60 Words per Minute Art Critic. She is touring the US, setting up shop in galleries for two or three days and inviting local artists to request a written critical review on a first-come, first-served basis. It seems that these days you really do need to be an entrepreneur to be an art critic.
The blogosphere is helping to give coverage to young artists, and to bring arts events into the public discourse, but it surely not enough to fill the void left by the major journalistic institutions. I have recently discovered ArtsJournal.com. This is a website that pulls together material on the arts found elsewhere on the web. It also has 62 regular bloggers writing original content. By giving away as much content as it can, it has becomes central to the arts community. It is funded by adverts and has only 3 paid employees. Blogging is hardly financially lucrative, and it seems pretty apparent to me that as a general rule, a review is less good if a person is not paid. Most blogs are highly passionate, opinionated and voiceferous discussions -- of previously published material. Without scoops of fresh meat, they will die.
The following article by Andras Szanto, (Senior Lecturer, MA Art Business, Sotheby's Institute of Art) is essential reading on this topic.
'With newspapers in terminal decline, what future for arts journalism?' The Art Newspaper, May, 2009
http://www.theartnewspaper.com/article.asp?id=17214
Monday, 23 November 2009
Thursday, 19 November 2009
My article on scent in the paintings of J.W.Waterhouse and Charles Courtney Curran
I hope you will enjoy reading an article I published in Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide entitled "Wicked with Roses": Floral Femininity and the Erotics of Scent" In it I explore nineteenth-century constructions of femininity by looking at the motif of women inhaling floral fragrance in British painting and visual culture, from about 1880 to 1910.
You can find it at:
http://19thc-artworldwide.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=144:qwicked-with-rosesq-floral-femininity-and-the-erotics-of-scent&catid=46:spring07article&Itemid=68
I would love to have your comments and feedback as this material is being revised for my forthcoming book Scented Visions: Art and the Olfactory, 1880 - 1910, on the role of scent in Nineteenth-century Art and Aesthetics
I have new publications coming out and will keep you posted.
You can find it at:
http://19thc-artworldwide.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=144:qwicked-with-rosesq-floral-femininity-and-the-erotics-of-scent&catid=46:spring07article&Itemid=68
I would love to have your comments and feedback as this material is being revised for my forthcoming book Scented Visions: Art and the Olfactory, 1880 - 1910, on the role of scent in Nineteenth-century Art and Aesthetics
I have new publications coming out and will keep you posted.
Wednesday, 18 November 2009
Art Deco Icons
The four-part art deco icons series, presented by David Heathcote on BBC4 made rivetting, yet easy-going and entertaining viewing. Def recommend!
Documentary observations
This is a list of quick observations about film-making which I shall continue to update with each art documentary I watch from now on. You'll find much more interesting posts than this one!
Anish Kapoor = Imagine
Must find out whether it is the BBC or a private film company that makes the Imagine series.
Occasional personal camera asides from the presenter ... the look on Alan Yentob's face sometimes was priceless.
Observing people interact with his sculptures and having short comments from visitors worked very well
When photographs are shown the picture is slowly zoomed in, perhaps moving in to one detail. The camera rarely stayed still over a photo.
Sometimes when an expert was talking, we would still be looking at a different shot before it switched to an image of the person talking.
Good mix of artist, viewers and art experts and an unintrusive presenter who brings the whole thing together.
Where is Modern Art Now?
Finally a black art history presenter! Loved the understated scene of a black art historian, interviewing a black artist about sculptures of the black male nude and the black gaze.
The programme was rich in scenery – from tatty Hackney galleries to whitewashed studios and a Hayward gallery private view.
Interviews with a range of artists -- from the well-known to emerging
Bustling events and chats over drinks at private views rather than the silent art gallery of say the usual Tim Marlow or Andrew Graham Dixon approach
Personal asides to the camera made by the presenter.
Unusual shots --angles from above, and below to give a sense of scale of the artwork
Seeing artists at work in their studios is always exciting. At one point Casely-Hayford helps an artist move her works
Art Deco Icons, BBC 4
David Heathcote, slightly scruffy but very personable presenter
Loved his informal, chatty style.
He talks about quite complex architectural issues in a very simple (but not patronising) style - you hardly notice that you are learning... and yet in fact you are taking a lot in.
Really focuses in on details of the architecture. The programme was as much or more about looking as listening to him. You never felt lectured at whilst looking... just gently guided.
His presentation reminds me of Carol Jacobi's teaching style
He gets involved... has a bath, makes cocktails, unpacks his case
The last episode, set on the Orient Express, took the opportunity to use the journey time to sit in the carriages summing up art deco
The journey gave the programme a clear shape
In the visit to the art deco house, the walk around the building gave his programme shape.
SCHOOL OF SAATCHI (BBC 2 9 PM)
Narrated by Hugh boneville
Mathew colling looking straight into the camera and then talking over archive footage
Personal candid commentary from Tracey Emin
Anish Kapoor = Imagine
Must find out whether it is the BBC or a private film company that makes the Imagine series.
Occasional personal camera asides from the presenter ... the look on Alan Yentob's face sometimes was priceless.
Observing people interact with his sculptures and having short comments from visitors worked very well
When photographs are shown the picture is slowly zoomed in, perhaps moving in to one detail. The camera rarely stayed still over a photo.
Sometimes when an expert was talking, we would still be looking at a different shot before it switched to an image of the person talking.
Good mix of artist, viewers and art experts and an unintrusive presenter who brings the whole thing together.
Where is Modern Art Now?
Finally a black art history presenter! Loved the understated scene of a black art historian, interviewing a black artist about sculptures of the black male nude and the black gaze.
The programme was rich in scenery – from tatty Hackney galleries to whitewashed studios and a Hayward gallery private view.
Interviews with a range of artists -- from the well-known to emerging
Bustling events and chats over drinks at private views rather than the silent art gallery of say the usual Tim Marlow or Andrew Graham Dixon approach
Personal asides to the camera made by the presenter.
Unusual shots --angles from above, and below to give a sense of scale of the artwork
Seeing artists at work in their studios is always exciting. At one point Casely-Hayford helps an artist move her works
Art Deco Icons, BBC 4
David Heathcote, slightly scruffy but very personable presenter
Loved his informal, chatty style.
He talks about quite complex architectural issues in a very simple (but not patronising) style - you hardly notice that you are learning... and yet in fact you are taking a lot in.
Really focuses in on details of the architecture. The programme was as much or more about looking as listening to him. You never felt lectured at whilst looking... just gently guided.
His presentation reminds me of Carol Jacobi's teaching style
He gets involved... has a bath, makes cocktails, unpacks his case
The last episode, set on the Orient Express, took the opportunity to use the journey time to sit in the carriages summing up art deco
The journey gave the programme a clear shape
In the visit to the art deco house, the walk around the building gave his programme shape.
SCHOOL OF SAATCHI (BBC 2 9 PM)
Narrated by Hugh boneville
Mathew colling looking straight into the camera and then talking over archive footage
Personal candid commentary from Tracey Emin
Modern Beauty series
BBC Two: Matt Collings – What is Beauty?, Saturday 14 November, 8.30pm
BBC Two: Sue Perkins – The Art On Your Wall, Monday 16 November, 9.00pm
BBC Four: Gus Casely-Hayford – Where Is Modern Art Now?, Wednesday 18 November, 9.00pm
BBC Two: Waldemar Januscszak – Ugly Beauty, Saturday 21 November, 8.45pm
BBC Two: School Of Saatchi, Tuesday 24 November, 9.00pm (4 x 60-minutes)
BBC Two: Roger Scruton – Why Beauty Matters, Saturday 28 November, 8.45pm
BBC Two: Sue Perkins – The Art On Your Wall, Monday 16 November, 9.00pm
BBC Four: Gus Casely-Hayford – Where Is Modern Art Now?, Wednesday 18 November, 9.00pm
BBC Two: Waldemar Januscszak – Ugly Beauty, Saturday 21 November, 8.45pm
BBC Two: School Of Saatchi, Tuesday 24 November, 9.00pm (4 x 60-minutes)
BBC Two: Roger Scruton – Why Beauty Matters, Saturday 28 November, 8.45pm
Which came first, the artist or the art?
Gus Casely-Hayford: Why are your pots art and not craft?
Grayson Perry: They are art because I am an artist and I exhibit them in a gallery .... isn't painting a craft?
It would be interesting to researhc artists perceptions of the differences between art and craft. The 'it is art because I am an artist’ answer though begs the question, what is an artist? I suppose Perry would answer an artist is someone who produces art. And round we go...
Grayson Perry: They are art because I am an artist and I exhibit them in a gallery .... isn't painting a craft?
It would be interesting to researhc artists perceptions of the differences between art and craft. The 'it is art because I am an artist’ answer though begs the question, what is an artist? I suppose Perry would answer an artist is someone who produces art. And round we go...
An end to ‘I could have made that’ art?
Lots of interesting ideas were bounced around in tonight’s Where is Modern Art Now, presented by Gus Casely-Hayford (former Arts Council exec). This hour long documentary explored the state of British art today, in the light of the recent collapse of the contemporary art market. He talked to a range of artists from Grayson Perry (surprisingly conservative, normal and intelligent) to Michael Landy (shy, surprisingly cute) to more low key artists such as the sculptor Tom Price, to find out what they are making, where and why.
For too long art has been in the shadows of the Sensation crowd. The YBAs opened up everything so that now anything goes, but in this world of infinite possibilities, so much choice can be stultying. Art of the last ten years has lacked tradition and focus. A trip to a rather uninspired exhibition at Goldsmith’s brings this home. The desire to shock is no longer shocking. It has just become formulaic and besides, arguably nothing much shocks us anymore anyway, or at least not when we are expecting it, as we do in the gallery. Art needs to be challenging and controversial but it is not entertainment, argued Casely-Hayford. I quite agree and yet despite what he said, I couldn't help getting that feeling that he was struggling to emerge from that 'shock' mindset that has dictated contemporary art for so long. Its a fine line between 'art that you can hang in your dining room'(and what's so wrong with that anyway?), sensational but shallow shock pieces and really thoughtful and challenging pieces. Grayson Perry is right: The most shocking thing you can be in art today is conservative.
Thank goodness things are changing. Casely-Hayford makes a compelling case for a new era that he believes to be dawning in contemporary art. We are so used to hearing about how the recession is leading us all to be more self-reflective, tighten up our purse strings, make do and mend and return to traditional values. (This Christmas, I bet you anything the magazine’s will be selling copy based upon telling us how to sit around the fireplace knitting stockings and playing Blind Man’s Bluff with the family with not an Xbox bought on credit in sight.) Anyway, it seems art is likewise becoming more reflective. Finally, it seems, we are moving away from that over confident, mass-produced, commodified art whose runaway prices are out of kilter with the more thoughtful art-world (the endless dot pictures produced by Damian Hirst’s little dwarfs in Damian warehouseland comes to mind) towards more challenging, thoughtful and thought-provoking pieces that are not produced to satisfy the market, but which are genuine and first and foremost reflect the ideas and feelings of the artists. As Casely-Hayford puts it, 'the market should come to the artist and not the other way around'.
This new kind of modern art takes time to produce. Though just as likely to be produced in a few strokes and splatters as anything Jackson Pollock or the YBAs made, these works will typically be the distillation of years of deep thought and research, as well as great concentration and skill. Casely-Hayford sees the end of the age of the bright young things, fresh out of college, achieving great success. It is the chance for the slow-burners to come to the boil, as their artworks and ideas reach a new maturity. One such slow-burner is the sculptor Tom Price, whose portrait heads and figurines of black men as individuals rather than racial types, are uncomfortable reminders of our colonial history of anthropology. These are not radically shocking, but instead thought-provoking, informed and challenging pieces.
A new kind of art is going to require a new kind of viewer. These works will not satisfy the ‘pop in, pop out’ approach to art viewing that Tate Modern’s basic themed hangs promote. Rather, they take time to look at and understand. Grayson Perry feels that this new kind of art is going to require a new type of audience, or rather a return to an older more connoisseural viewer whom appreciates that learning to look at and understand art is like learning a language, a long slow process that takes time to develop. ‘To be soaked in art’, he says, ‘takes a long time.’ His argument that we undervalue the visual and think that looking is easypeasy and second nature struck me as fascinating. Although visual literacy is a skill I am still learning a decade on from first beginning my studies in art history, the idea that we undervalue sight is so different from my own arguments about the celebration of ocularcentricism and the neglect of the sense of smell.
Finally, this new dawn in modern art is to see a new kind of artist. Finally, it seems that the new generation will not be the attention seekers of the YBAs, but a rather more modest crowd. And about time too. Celebrity culture has never felt cheaper. Has Jordan brought down the cult of celebrity? Can this really be the end of the Tracey Emin-ses?
For too long art has been in the shadows of the Sensation crowd. The YBAs opened up everything so that now anything goes, but in this world of infinite possibilities, so much choice can be stultying. Art of the last ten years has lacked tradition and focus. A trip to a rather uninspired exhibition at Goldsmith’s brings this home. The desire to shock is no longer shocking. It has just become formulaic and besides, arguably nothing much shocks us anymore anyway, or at least not when we are expecting it, as we do in the gallery. Art needs to be challenging and controversial but it is not entertainment, argued Casely-Hayford. I quite agree and yet despite what he said, I couldn't help getting that feeling that he was struggling to emerge from that 'shock' mindset that has dictated contemporary art for so long. Its a fine line between 'art that you can hang in your dining room'(and what's so wrong with that anyway?), sensational but shallow shock pieces and really thoughtful and challenging pieces. Grayson Perry is right: The most shocking thing you can be in art today is conservative.
Thank goodness things are changing. Casely-Hayford makes a compelling case for a new era that he believes to be dawning in contemporary art. We are so used to hearing about how the recession is leading us all to be more self-reflective, tighten up our purse strings, make do and mend and return to traditional values. (This Christmas, I bet you anything the magazine’s will be selling copy based upon telling us how to sit around the fireplace knitting stockings and playing Blind Man’s Bluff with the family with not an Xbox bought on credit in sight.) Anyway, it seems art is likewise becoming more reflective. Finally, it seems, we are moving away from that over confident, mass-produced, commodified art whose runaway prices are out of kilter with the more thoughtful art-world (the endless dot pictures produced by Damian Hirst’s little dwarfs in Damian warehouseland comes to mind) towards more challenging, thoughtful and thought-provoking pieces that are not produced to satisfy the market, but which are genuine and first and foremost reflect the ideas and feelings of the artists. As Casely-Hayford puts it, 'the market should come to the artist and not the other way around'.
This new kind of modern art takes time to produce. Though just as likely to be produced in a few strokes and splatters as anything Jackson Pollock or the YBAs made, these works will typically be the distillation of years of deep thought and research, as well as great concentration and skill. Casely-Hayford sees the end of the age of the bright young things, fresh out of college, achieving great success. It is the chance for the slow-burners to come to the boil, as their artworks and ideas reach a new maturity. One such slow-burner is the sculptor Tom Price, whose portrait heads and figurines of black men as individuals rather than racial types, are uncomfortable reminders of our colonial history of anthropology. These are not radically shocking, but instead thought-provoking, informed and challenging pieces.
A new kind of art is going to require a new kind of viewer. These works will not satisfy the ‘pop in, pop out’ approach to art viewing that Tate Modern’s basic themed hangs promote. Rather, they take time to look at and understand. Grayson Perry feels that this new kind of art is going to require a new type of audience, or rather a return to an older more connoisseural viewer whom appreciates that learning to look at and understand art is like learning a language, a long slow process that takes time to develop. ‘To be soaked in art’, he says, ‘takes a long time.’ His argument that we undervalue the visual and think that looking is easypeasy and second nature struck me as fascinating. Although visual literacy is a skill I am still learning a decade on from first beginning my studies in art history, the idea that we undervalue sight is so different from my own arguments about the celebration of ocularcentricism and the neglect of the sense of smell.
Finally, this new dawn in modern art is to see a new kind of artist. Finally, it seems that the new generation will not be the attention seekers of the YBAs, but a rather more modest crowd. And about time too. Celebrity culture has never felt cheaper. Has Jordan brought down the cult of celebrity? Can this really be the end of the Tracey Emin-ses?
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