Paddy Johnson is the founding editor of Art Fag City. In addition to her work on the blog, she has been published in New York Magazine, artreview.com, Art in America, The Daily, Print Magazine, Time Out NY, The Reeler, The Daily Beast, The Huffington Post, The Guardian, and New York Press, and linked to by publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, New York Magazine, Boing-Boing, The New York Observer, Gawker, Design Observer, Make Magazine, The Awl, Artinfo, and we-make-money-not-art. Paddy lectures widely about art and the Internet at venues including Yale University, Parsons, Rutgers, South by Southwest, and the Whitney Independent Study Program. In 2008, she became the first blogger to earn a Creative Capital Arts Writers grant from the Creative Capital Foundation. Paddy is also the art editor at The L Magazine, where she writes a regular column.
"Intercourses" still from Jesper Just's installation at Danish Pavilion. Image via: The New York Times
Canadian artist Shary Boyle had the National Gallery’s help this year in fundraising for her pavilion, which cost 1.5 Million. That’s pretty cheap—the United States would not even disclose how much was spent on their Pavilion in 2011—and that’s evidenced by their opening, which will host…a cash bar? Canadian culture does not yet understand the power of philanthropy. [The Globe and Mail]
After 20 years, Paul McCarthy’s goat finally got tired of being dry-humped. The sculpture’s motor died two weeks ago. [In The Air]
Andrew Russeth may see more art than Jerry Saltz. He’s recommending the ICP’s Triennial, therefore I will go see it. [Gallerist]
Artist Rirkrit Tiravanjia on Art Basel Hong Kong. “When bankers get together they talk about art,” he said. “When artists get together, they talk about money.” So, this is the state of the blue chip art world; removed from reality. [Bloomberg]
Andrew Goldstein interviews Jesper Just on his new multi-channel film installation at the Danish Pavilion. Just uses a replica city of Paris, located just outside the Chinese city of Hangzhou as his subject. We gave Just’s show at Nicolai Wallner a mixed review when we visited Copenhagen last year, so we’re looking forward to seeing what he does in Venice. Interestingly, the artist collaborated with the New York-based design firm Project Projects to produce an accompanying graphic campaign for “Intercourses” that will run online and as posters in the cities of New York, Hong Kong, Copenhagen, Paris and Shanghai [ArtSpace]
A brilliant metaphor: Running up that escalator. [The Medium]
Two years ago I wrote a wrap-up of the Venice Biennale for Rupert Murdock’s iPad only publication, The Daily. The site folded about a year later, and is now off line, so I’m republishing the review as a refresher for those going into the show. The lede: If the Venice Biennale were a race, no one would finish.
Critics mostly agree that the Punk show at The Met isn’t very good. I’m not a different voice in this choir, but perhaps my tenor might offer a slightly different pitch. This week at The L Magazine I explain why the Met Museum’s “Punk: From Chaos to Couture” fails.
You like art. You know nothing about it. Where to start?
How about our beginners art reading list! This list is for all the friends over the years who have asked me what they should read to learn about art and the art world. No one wants to flip through a text book to learn about art. You won’t have to, with these books.
Reviews of the Met’s Punk show seem unilaterally negative so far. The Times, Gallerist, ArtInfo and Hyperallergic don’t like it (an understatement for Hyperallergic’s Geraldine Visco). My review comes out in the L Magazine next week.
Gawker reporter John Cook has seen a video of a man he’s told is smoking crack cocaine. He believes that man is Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. Toronto Star reporters are claiming to have seen the video too. Ford’s denies the allegations and has had his lawyers send Gawker an email threatening legal action. Gawker has responded by posting the request. [Gawker]
Relatedly, Rob Ford is the worst mayor Toronto ever. [Wikipedia]
Tom Moody isolates the 180-degree rule as important in an essay about GIFs as micro-cinema. “Both [Bruce Conner's] A MOVIE and these animated gifs employ some common cinematic principles. The cuts create an eyeline match, which make it appear as though the characters are looking at one another, and obey the 180-degree rule (meaning that if you draw a straight line between their eyes, our perspective stays to one side of it).” [Indiwire: warning, there’s a 15 minute static ad that pops up before the article can be read!]
AFC Alumn Julia Halperin will be moderating an ArtsTech meetup on the Art Market. If you live in New York and aren’t in Venice, you should go to this. [ArtsTech]
Roberta Smith isn’t thrilled with the dick measuring contests going on in Chelsea between David Zwirner/Jeff Koons, Gagosian/Jeff Koons, and Hauser & Wirth/Paul McCarthy. Nonetheless, she measures, and concludes that Hauser & Wirth/Paul McCarthy has the biggest dick of them all. [NYTimes]
Critic Michael Kimmelman discusses MoMA’s plans to demolish the former Folk Art Museum, and their stepping back from said plans. He also aptly their describes the transformation of MoMA over the last decade. “Not so long ago, [MoMA] was the art museum New Yorkers loved and identified with; it seemed familial, its scale personal. It had a special place in the city’s heart. The Met was the big pompous, bureaucratic machine. Now the tables have turned, and even while it has grown, the Met has come to seem the nimble, venturesome one, more intimately loved.” [NYTimes]
Elizabeth Spiers on the loaded question: What do you do? Only one stone left unturned in this essay: Is there proper etiquette for asking the question amongst a crowd where the question might seem garish? Sometimes you want to know, and “What are your interests?” feels a little forced. [The Medium]
Museums are starting to open their permanent collections up to photography. Nice coinage by Jorge Colberg in this piece about how constantly taking photos of ourselves is an act of “compulsive looking”. [Artnews]
I could care less about who owns the rights of use to what image, but for those following the Supreme lawsuit, it seems they only filed for a federal trademark March 6th. This is significant, because they filed a suit against Leah McSweeney in the amount of 10 million dollars for copyright infringement without the trademark, just one month later. [Animal NY]
A revised version of Space Oddity recorded by Commander Chris Hadfield on board the International Space Station. It’s ridiculously good. [youtube]
A great interactive “Then and now” piece about hip-hop in brooklyn. [NYTimes via: c-monstah]
The Avant/Garde Dairies should interview more historians. Barry Lewis, an architectural historian, who speaks like he’s been lecturing at institutions across the country all his life, is the subject of their latest segment and he’s absolutely captivating.
Here, he discusses the Jefferson Market Courthouse, a library made of red brick that’s located in Greenwich Village. “What could be avant garde about that?” Lewis asks rhetorically before explaining the long forgotten taboos of the 19th century. At the time exposing the structural materials such as brick was simply not done; architects were expected to place such materials behind beautified walls.
Hurray! MonkeyTown, the avant garde screening, performance and dining venue is back! This summer, MonkeyTown will enjoy a 60 day run at Eyebeam. There’ll be chefs, there’ll be videos, there’ll even be an all terrine menu. I spoke to MonkeyTown Founder Montgomery Knott this week, and asked him about the program. Our interview is now up at The L Magazine.
I’ve cleared my calendar of all Derby Day events tomorrow, so I have the day to attend the annual Derby Day fundraiser at Smack Mellon. I like gambling, and they’ve got plenty of that; horse racing bidding will determine the order party attendees can chose the art they’ll take home. Spend $250 on a ticket and you’ll be sure to get something.
