Love your points about Alma Allen. Maybe the usual tastemakers and cultural influencers are just mad they didn't get their usual way. And I say this as someone who can't stand the Trump administration but also can't stand the myopia and self-interest of the insider art scene.
Nicely judged argument with regard Alma Allen’s inclusion at the Venice B.They look like work intensive forms as you say. I think I could like them very much if I viewed them for real.
A really interesting read. I loooove the definition “art for the tech bro era.” Personally, I respect KAWS for his graffiti days: he was a legit bomber working illegally, and his focus on targeting billboards really resonates with me, although what he does now feels worlds apart from his early critique of consumerism.
For me, the issue isn’t KAWS himself (he’s done enough in his graffiti era to earn his place in the art world) but the way his work gets curated, and so the problem in this case is the Moma.
Instead of simply cashing in on his fame and social-media reach, it would be far more compelling to use that popularity as an entry point, guiding visitors toward a broader, more critical journey and introducing them to artists who don’t enjoy the same level of hype.
As for the AI mural, I was thinking of writing about it in my December 1st newsletter, although I’ll probably need more time and it will end up going out later in December.
Agree with you totally about the show at SFMOMA. His current work might be of a certain variety, but there are many interesting things to say about the world in which this kind of art is produced, and to link to other artists.
I'll look forward to your piece about the AI mural!
You make good points about Alma Allen – as that kind of self-taught slow-working unsupported artist myself, I can only be sympathetic. And how have we become so bathed in culture wars that nothing can exist beyond them, that our every activity must be part of the fight? During WWII people were asked for their metal cookware to melt into weapons, but now it seems we're asked to surrender our thoughts and creative acts. I don't know Allen's politics but the demographics he accidentally occupies are neither here nor there as far as the work goes (though I have no doubt this administration was actively looking for a white man). And as for saying nothing about the current crisis, I can relate to that too as my interest is not in making work tied to any brief moment in time. One can get too short-sighted.
About the rest of the work in your post though, the only thing I have to say is bleh.
Absolutely agree with you about the irrelevance of Allen's demographic, being asked to surrender our thoughts and creative acts, and the value of making work that is not tied to political ups and downs. Thanks for your thoughts!
V interesting read. I’m not a fan of KAWS but then I’m definitely not the demographic. Very Jeff Koons. Feels vapid and cynical but it’s where we are. Sad that art has become this kind of trading commodity. I was watching the BBC doc The Great Art Fraud, had no idea you could buy half a painting with another buyer. That’s where the fraud came into its own!
Wish I’d seen the AI Christmas scene before it was taken down, fascinating, but I will go and see the Paula Rego, thanks for the tip.
I know what you mean about the sad state of affairs when art is boiled down to its commodity status. I haven't watched the Great Art Fraud -- will look it up!
Allen lives in Mexico now and couldn’t make his work without his Mexican assistants. Says everything about the US.
Love your points about Alma Allen. Maybe the usual tastemakers and cultural influencers are just mad they didn't get their usual way. And I say this as someone who can't stand the Trump administration but also can't stand the myopia and self-interest of the insider art scene.
I think you're spot on about the tastemakers and influencers. That certainly the impression I got when listening to The Art Newspaper's podcast about this story this morning: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-us-venice-biennale-saga-queer-islamic-art-in-oslo/id1280469178?i=1000738730854
Hi.
Nicely judged argument with regard Alma Allen’s inclusion at the Venice B.They look like work intensive forms as you say. I think I could like them very much if I viewed them for real.
Thought you might say that ;-)
A really interesting read. I loooove the definition “art for the tech bro era.” Personally, I respect KAWS for his graffiti days: he was a legit bomber working illegally, and his focus on targeting billboards really resonates with me, although what he does now feels worlds apart from his early critique of consumerism.
For me, the issue isn’t KAWS himself (he’s done enough in his graffiti era to earn his place in the art world) but the way his work gets curated, and so the problem in this case is the Moma.
Instead of simply cashing in on his fame and social-media reach, it would be far more compelling to use that popularity as an entry point, guiding visitors toward a broader, more critical journey and introducing them to artists who don’t enjoy the same level of hype.
As for the AI mural, I was thinking of writing about it in my December 1st newsletter, although I’ll probably need more time and it will end up going out later in December.
Agree with you totally about the show at SFMOMA. His current work might be of a certain variety, but there are many interesting things to say about the world in which this kind of art is produced, and to link to other artists.
I'll look forward to your piece about the AI mural!
You make good points about Alma Allen – as that kind of self-taught slow-working unsupported artist myself, I can only be sympathetic. And how have we become so bathed in culture wars that nothing can exist beyond them, that our every activity must be part of the fight? During WWII people were asked for their metal cookware to melt into weapons, but now it seems we're asked to surrender our thoughts and creative acts. I don't know Allen's politics but the demographics he accidentally occupies are neither here nor there as far as the work goes (though I have no doubt this administration was actively looking for a white man). And as for saying nothing about the current crisis, I can relate to that too as my interest is not in making work tied to any brief moment in time. One can get too short-sighted.
About the rest of the work in your post though, the only thing I have to say is bleh.
Absolutely agree with you about the irrelevance of Allen's demographic, being asked to surrender our thoughts and creative acts, and the value of making work that is not tied to political ups and downs. Thanks for your thoughts!
V interesting read. I’m not a fan of KAWS but then I’m definitely not the demographic. Very Jeff Koons. Feels vapid and cynical but it’s where we are. Sad that art has become this kind of trading commodity. I was watching the BBC doc The Great Art Fraud, had no idea you could buy half a painting with another buyer. That’s where the fraud came into its own!
Wish I’d seen the AI Christmas scene before it was taken down, fascinating, but I will go and see the Paula Rego, thanks for the tip.
I know what you mean about the sad state of affairs when art is boiled down to its commodity status. I haven't watched the Great Art Fraud -- will look it up!