Comments on: Peter Schjeldahl on After Nature at the New Museum http://www.artfagcity.com/2008/08/07/peter-schjeldahl-on-after-nature-at-the-new-museum/ As relevant as Eric Fischl. New York art news, reviews and gossip. Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:31:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.1.2 By: tom moody http://www.artfagcity.com/2008/08/07/peter-schjeldahl-on-after-nature-at-the-new-museum/#comment-83109 tom moody Fri, 08 Aug 2008 00:38:30 +0000 http://www.artfagcity.com/2008/08/07/peter-schjeldahl-on-after-nature-at-the-new-museum/#comment-83109 That's a great Bill Christenberry photo. The light (and everything else about it) looks so artificial but he's all about "straight shooting." I haven't seen the show but wish Schjeldahl wouldn't read the zeitgeist into one curator's choices. There's a million objects out there and a million ways to spin them. That’s a great Bill Christenberry photo. The light (and everything else about it) looks so artificial but he’s all about “straight shooting.”

I haven’t seen the show but wish Schjeldahl wouldn’t read the zeitgeist into one curator’s choices. There’s a million objects out there and a million ways to spin them.

]]> By: Anon http://www.artfagcity.com/2008/08/07/peter-schjeldahl-on-after-nature-at-the-new-museum/#comment-83298 Anon Sat, 09 Aug 2008 00:19:08 +0000 http://www.artfagcity.com/2008/08/07/peter-schjeldahl-on-after-nature-at-the-new-museum/#comment-83298 One of the best art reviews I have read in years. Moving actually. One of the best art reviews I have read in years. Moving actually.

]]> By: Art Fag City http://www.artfagcity.com/2008/08/07/peter-schjeldahl-on-after-nature-at-the-new-museum/#comment-83321 Art Fag City Sat, 09 Aug 2008 03:22:41 +0000 http://www.artfagcity.com/2008/08/07/peter-schjeldahl-on-after-nature-at-the-new-museum/#comment-83321 Tom: It is, though in person it's disappointing. It's a digital print on paper - I find the texture of the paper distracting, and some of the richness of the print lost, as the paper absorbs a lot of the ink rather than photographs where the ink neatly sits on top. The show is uneven, but ultimately I liked it. I don't really have too much problems with Schjeldahl's read. I think it's a given that there's a million ways to interpret a show, and a million ways to apply it larger cultural trends so the question, is really whether what Schjeldahl sees is of value to others. For me the idea of the futility of artistic technique in the face of world conditions felt very profound. I agree that it may not be appropriate to apply that brush stroke quite so broadly, but by the same token, I don't think the ideas are dismissable. Tom: It is, though in person it’s disappointing. It’s a digital print on paper - I find the texture of the paper distracting, and some of the richness of the print lost, as the paper absorbs a lot of the ink rather than photographs where the ink neatly sits on top.

The show is uneven, but ultimately I liked it. I don’t really have too much problems with Schjeldahl’s read. I think it’s a given that there’s a million ways to interpret a show, and a million ways to apply it larger cultural trends so the question, is really whether what Schjeldahl sees is of value to others. For me the idea of the futility of artistic technique in the face of world conditions felt very profound. I agree that it may not be appropriate to apply that brush stroke quite so broadly, but by the same token, I don’t think the ideas are dismissable.

]]> By: tom moody http://www.artfagcity.com/2008/08/07/peter-schjeldahl-on-after-nature-at-the-new-museum/#comment-83450 tom moody Sat, 09 Aug 2008 17:49:18 +0000 http://www.artfagcity.com/2008/08/07/peter-schjeldahl-on-after-nature-at-the-new-museum/#comment-83450 Interesting about the Christenberry. He was a teacher of mine. A bit of history on him: he is a conceptual artist working in several media whose art deals with his Alabama roots. He was using little Brownie snapshots as visual aids to make miniatures of barns, etc. (See http://www.tommoody.us/archives/2007/07/25/red-dirt-of-mars-and-alabama/) Curators coming to his studio responded to the photos as Eggleston-ish "art photography," which led to his career as a photographer (as opposed to "conceptual artist using photography") included in group shows with Walker Evans, et al. I hate to talk about the permanence of art but it may be a problem with ancient color snapshots, for some. Sounds like he's going the digital route, and yeah, it's hard to get the same intimacy or clarity as old snapshots have. Re: the Schjeldahl, what he sees is of value to others, but I would find it more valuable if he didn't accept the curator's frame so completely. "The art world used to be happy but now it is sad" is the kind of thing that was said about the last Biennial--it sounds facile to me. But then, I'm a "happy" artist and a supporter of sugar cereal eating Reagan kids (as someone once said on my blog). Interesting about the Christenberry. He was a teacher of mine. A bit of history on him: he is a conceptual artist working in several media whose art deals with his Alabama roots. He was using little Brownie snapshots as visual aids to make miniatures of barns, etc. (See http://www.tommoody.us/archives/2007/07/25/red-dirt-of-mars-and-alabama/)

Curators coming to his studio responded to the photos as Eggleston-ish “art photography,” which led to his career as a photographer (as opposed to “conceptual artist using photography”) included in group shows with Walker Evans, et al.

I hate to talk about the permanence of art but it may be a problem with ancient color snapshots, for some. Sounds like he’s going the digital route, and yeah, it’s hard to get the same intimacy or clarity as old snapshots have.

Re: the Schjeldahl, what he sees is of value to others, but I would find it more valuable if he didn’t accept the curator’s frame so completely. “The art world used to be happy but now it is sad” is the kind of thing that was said about the last Biennial–it sounds facile to me. But then, I’m a “happy” artist and a supporter of sugar cereal eating Reagan kids (as someone once said on my blog).

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