Art Fag City at The L Magazine: Art World Trends for 2010

POST BY: PADDY JOHNSON
Dianna Molzan, Untitled, 2009, oil on canvas, 24 1/4 x 20 in. (61.6 x 50.8 cm). Image: Rogue Wave Projects.

This week at the L Magazine I pull out my crystal ball and look into the future. Here’s a sample of what I come up with:

Time to take stock of the year in art! Last year’s trends are tomorrow’s predictions: let’s take a look at what’s in store for 2010.

More of the Same: Confusion Over What Constitutes Art
Only the art world could launch an awards ceremony recognizing professional excellence that left half the community wondering whether the gala itself was actually a work of art. Artist Rob Pruitt’s First Ever Annual Art Awards at the Guggenheim achieved this end earlier in the year: Even art critic and award recipient Jerry Saltz claimed he wasn’t sure if the event was real. Make no mistake: this marks a serious identity crisis in the field, not a fine example of experimentation and innovation. The distinction between product and promotion needs to be clearer or the profession will flounder.

Burgeoning Trend! Frame Art is back!
Challenging the limitations of painting is as old as the last half-century, but it’s never too late for a revival! This year’s highlights include Barnaby Furnas‘s new watercolors that render frames as part of the composition, the hand-carved frames and landscapes of Zach Harris, and Dianna Molzan‘s stretched fabric that exposes the de facto frame of the stretcher [her "Untitled" is pictured above]. Three’s a trend!

To read the piece click here.