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Holland Cotter

Explain Me: The Stink of Met Admission Hikes Endures

by Paddy Johnson on February 21, 2018

Back in January, William Powhida and I recorded an episode of Explain Me on the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s new admission policy. Earlier that month, the museum known for housing some of the world’s greatest treasures announced its admission price would no longer remain “pay-as-you-wish”. As of March 1st, their suggested admission, $25 will become mandatory for anyone living outside of New York State. Children under 12 get in for free.

Given that there’s less than two weeks until this policy change goes into affect, we thought it might be a good time to release our discussion and revisit the debate.

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Thursday Links: Art Handlers Wear Art Face

by Paddy Johnson on December 8, 2016

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Several publications have written articles blaming a large cedar sculpture by Ursula von Rydingsvard for a series of illnesses suffered by agents working out of the Miami field office of the FBI. However, according to reporter Benjamin Sutton, there’s no evidence suggesting that the sculpture is responsible for these health problems according to Federal Occupational Health and General Services Administration. [Hyperallergic]
Here come the Best of Lists. Roberta Smith and Holland Cotter are out with theirs and it is expansive. Nice to see that the Times critics like that much art. It’s easy to become cynical in the field so it means a lot for two established critics to still support so much art. [The New York Times]
David Salle observes that over the last few decades a focus on theory and relational aesthetics has eroded the idea that art has an “aura”. We then, he asks, do we have to replace it with? [ARTnews]
I gotta say, I love this art handlers calendar. It’s all black and white photographs of art handlers posing with art face. [Etsy]
This story in Pitchfork about the Oakland warehouse fire is really touching—A bar tender donated his tips to those who lost housemates to help cover rent—but also gets at the struggles of musicians. Venues are vulnerable to displacement. “When you have these closures and this stagnation, people are forced into spaces that aren’t proper.” Said Michael Buchanan, a local booker. “And when they lack healthy ways to express themselves, it can be destructive.” [Pitchfork]

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Friday Links: Someone Stole this “Transformers” Sculpture in Queens

by Michael Anthony Farley on October 14, 2016

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Someone stole the above “Transformers” sculpture from Long Island City artist Annalisa Iadicicco. Come on guys, she made it with children! [QNS]

Recently discovered cave etchings in Spain might date back 14,500 years and have been described as “the most spectacular and impressive” on the Iberian peninsula. [BBC]

Holland Cotter joins the chorus of (mostly) praise for Pedro Reyes’ “Doomocracy”. [The New York Times]

From an auction immediately following the artist’s death, to a price “correction” in the 1990s, and ending up for sale again today—here’s what David Bowie’s prized Basquiat painting tells us about the way the art market works. [artnet News]

“If you can’t get walk-in traffic, why be in Chelsea?” -Mike Weiss on the closure of his eponymous gallery. Apparently having your gallery in a 24/7 luxury condo construction zone has become too much to deal with. Wow, how many Chelsea galleries have closed this year? [ARTnews]

150 affordable housing units are available from $833 to $1,082 in what’s temporarily Downtown Brooklyn’s tallest tower. Applications close December 15th. [Curbed]

Simon Fujiwara’s latest video installation at the Photographer’s Gallery in London sounds bizarre. He’s created a sort of video portrait of Joanne Salley, the British art teacher who was forced to resign after students discovered a thumb drive containing her topless selfies. The video shows an idealized/banal version of her life. [The Guardian]

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Friday Links: Self-Mummification is a Thing

by Paddy Johnson on October 7, 2016

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Betty Yu from the Chinatown Art Brigade writes about displacement in Chinatown. [Hyperallergic]
Speaking of gentrification issues, this Phineas Harper column for Deezen is so insightful. “Gentrification in the case of Williamsburg was in direct opposition to the interests of the businesses based there. It replaced economically and socially productive workplaces with unproductive capital stores. Even by the metrics of conventional capitalist wisdom, it was a strategic blunder damaging the real economy of Brooklyn.” [Deezen]
Jeremy Bailey and Rafaël Rozendaal discuss podcasts. [Good Point]
“To be honest, I wonder what a lot of people see in abstract painting. I love it, the idea of it and the experience of it, because it’s been in my life for decades. But what if you don’t have that information?” Now, that’s how you write a lede. Holland Cotter on Agnes Martin at The Guggenheim. He LOVES it. [The New York Times]
Ew. There’s a term called “The Brexit Discount”, which is being applied to purchases made in London England during Frieze and the auctions now that the pound is depressed. Nice to see a vote driven by xenophobia is helping out collectors. [The New York Times]
There is now a filter to turn your cell phone videos into paintings. [Engadget]
Apparently self-mummification is a thing. [Atlas Obscura]

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Thursday Links: A Billionaire Art Center and Elite Sex Parties

by Paddy Johnson and Rhett Jones on June 30, 2016

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Ron Perelman is donating $75m to a new performance arts center that is planned for the World Trade Center site. It will be named after the billionaire. The center was originally planned to be designed by Frank Gehry, but when the project stalled, his designs were shelved. Good. Too much Gehry. A new architect hasn’t been chosen yet, but Perelman says that he’s considering designs by Joshua Prince-Ramus. [New York Times]
Pulse has put out an open call for video artists to be part of its Miami edition this year. Selected artists will not need to be working with a participating gallery to be featured. Those who are interested in submitting work for consideration have until August 31st. [artnet News]
The Rauschenberg Foundation has announced the winners of its annual Artists as Activist Fellowship. 10 winners will split $775,000 that will be distributed over two years. One project, by the performance group Los Angeles Poverty Department, will attempt to devise “informal community policing vehicles that maintain respect for the well-being” of the residents on Skid Row. [L.A. Times]
Following the massive viral success of its Bob Ross stream, the live video platform, Twitch, is launching another art-related program: watching people eat. Warhol would be proud. [Polygon]
Holland Cotter loves PS1’s Vito Acconci retrospective. He likes it so much that there’s pretty much nothing negative here. That means he gets to spend the entire review just talking about the work. It’s a good read. [New York Times]
Speaking of good reads, Hilton Als has an excellent, long profile of Nan Goldin. We recently were surprised to find that critics were able to say something new about her “Ballad of Sexual Dependence.” It’s almost as surprising to find new nuggets from her well-worn biography. This is a must. [New Yorker]
We’ve seen post-Brexit results from Phillips and Sotheby’s so far this week, now it’s Christie’s turn. Following the surprise withdrawal of a 1994 Abstraktes Bild that was expected to sell for about £14m, the overall night exceeded the low-estimate with a £33.7m take and 92% sell-through rate. As for why the Richter was withdrawn, the owner reportedly did not want to reduce the reserve price. Collector Alain Servais said “There is no direct relation to Brexit except—as for the whole art market—we are living in more uncertain times.” [The Art Newspaper]
Josh Baer reminds us that currency issues have little to do with prices paid at auction, “A weak pound lets buyers in other currency bid 10% higher, which works out roughly the same. The only time it “saves” money is if there is just one bidder”. [The Baer Faxt]
Just in time for Summer beach season, go inside an elite Hamptons sex party. Or don’t. [Marie Claire]
Prosperity Dumpling, the dumpling house patroned by many art lovers and beloved for its insanely cheap dumplings is moving. Apparently, news of its back alley and roach infestation sunk the business. Still, sad news that they weren’t able to clean up their act. They are now moving all the way out to Bensonhurst in Brooklyn. We had to look that up to figure out where it is (way out by Dyker Heights). [Bowery Boogie]

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Friday Links: Punk’s Not Dead at Art Basel, Begs to Be Euthanized

by Paddy Johnson Michael Anthony Farley Rea McNamara on June 17, 2016

Huh. For some reason, someone made a kawaii commercial for Donald Trump. [Youtube]

The DAO has been attacked. The distributed autonomous organization which had centralized in one fund over $150 million in crytocurrency was hacked early this morning, with hackers siphoning off so far over $3.5 million ether, the DAO’s digital currency. To put in perspective: ether is trading at $17.50 per coin, putting the value of the stolen currency at over $60 million. [CoinDesk]

Here’s a GIF of a grandmother (the Queen) telling her grandson (the Prince) to stand up during her 90th birthday celebration. [Indy100]

Last month, Texas troubadour Guy Clark passed away. One of his final wishes, it turns out, was to have his longtime friend, singer and artist Terry Allen, make a sculpture using his ashes. “I think it was kind of like a ‘Fuck You, Terry,” joked Allen. [Glasstire, Rolling Stone]

What’s the next frontier? For Star Trek, which is marking its 50th anniversary with a new movie and TV series, turns out its unifying ts fanbase. Trekkies basically invented fandom — slash fiction, for instance, was famously coined from all the “Kirk/Spock” stories written by female fans as far back as the early 1970s — and it looks like their fan films are now competing with the official franchise productions. At the center of this is Axanar, a fan film that crowdfunded a seven-figure budget, and is now being sued by Paramount and CBS for copyright infringement. [BuzzFeed]

San Francisco poet Bill Berkson has passed away. Linked to the New York School of poets and artists, Berkson went on to become a prolific art critic, publishing reviews in Art News and Artforum. He also taught art history and critical writing at the San Francisco Art Institute from 1984 to 2008. [SF Gate]

According to this list of punk-inspired artworks for sale at Art Basel, punk’s not dead. But Jesus Christ, if it were it would be rolling in its grave. [The Art Newspaper]

Here’s good news: even if you suck at making art, the act still reduces stress hormones, according to researchers. [The Creators Project]

Sun Ping has been expelled from the official China Artists Association because, according to the CAA, Ping “ruined calligraphy at will and trampled on civilization.” Ping’s crime? A video of a woman writing calligraphy with her vagina. [artnet News]

Privately-owned “public art” can be sold or destroyed without governmental approval, in most cases. Now, Pittsburgh is trying to brainstorm ways to keep track of, and hopefully preserve, all the artwork in the public sphere that the public doesn’t actually own. [Next City]

Holland Cotter writes about the Antonio Lopez survey that just opened at El Museo del Barrio. As this show charts, Lopez created an out-gay art and helped change the ethnic profile of the fashion industry. Cotter gives the show two thumbs up, calling his art “true L.G.B.T.Q., loud and proud and unguarded.” [The New York Times]

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Tuesday Links: Institutional Trysts

by Paddy Johnson and Rea McNamara on March 22, 2016

Puppets singing lounge-style as they recount a museum date. [YouTube]
Is this the new normality we have to live with? To hashtag a city with the phrase “terrorist attacks” following? To expect safety check updates from Facebook friends in that region? Brussels’s airport and metro were hit by explosions early this morning. So far it’s been confirmed that 11 killed and 81 injured at Zaventem airport, 15 killed and 55 injured at Maelbeek metro. [Al Jazeera]
Prospect New Orleans has announced it’s opening dates: Saturday, November 11th 25th, 2017 through February. So, mark your calendars. Also, a newly-formed Artistic Director’s Council has assembled to help Artistic Director (and Nasher curator) Trevor Schoonmaker achieve his vision. What a line up: Miranda Lash Curator at the Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky, Omar Lopez-Chahoud, Artistic Director, Untitled, Miami, and artist Ebony G. Patterson. [Press Release]
Podcast of the day: Artelligence has an interview with Adam Fields of Arta, an uber-esque platform for matching galleries and collectors with appropriate shipping options. If you want to go deep on white gloved art shipping — or revisit previous traumas of shipping gone awry, since who enjoys it? — give this a listen. [Artelligence Podcast]
This recap of last week’s TEFAF Maastricht suggests it was a “refreshing expansion” in terms of exhibitors being unafraid to distinguish between fine and decorative art, high art and craft. Death to 19th art historian barriers! [The Economist]
Behold, the latest entry in the annals of allowing the internet the freedom to name something: the R.S.S. Boaty McBoatface, the proposed name of a new British polar research ship. People are really excited about this name—the poll has been hit so hard by traffic it’s gone down several times. [New York Times]
Christopher Knight weighs in on the dual Robert Mapplethorpe retrospective at LACMA and the Getty; despite the awkward LACMA wall text regarding Mapplethorpe’s “openly gay lifestyle” (according to Knight, “an accurate wall text would say he advocated living an openly gay life”) the show is a worthwhile collaboration involving the institutions’ joint acquisition of Mapplethorpe’s 1970s and 1980s photography alongside the artist’s archive of supporting materials. [Los Angeles Times]
Don’t miss The Conversation with Andrew Russeth. We’re a little late on this—it was made back in December—but it’s worth a listen. Highlights include: The observation that the best work being made today is sculpture, that middle tier galleries who have been in business for 10 plus years have it really hard, and that Lucien Smith and Oscar Murillo aren’t all that, but Anicka Yi is. Also an interesting question from Podcast host Michael Shaw: Are there conservative critics any more? According to Russeth, no. Just people who get out to more places. [The Conversation // Art Podcast]
Holland Cotter really is a hero. Nobody else at the paper of record so consistently brings to light the political and economic issues that shape the art industry. In his most recent piece (published last Friday), he writes about museums that take money from ethically challenge corporations, increasing gentrification and the museum’s role in that and more. [The New York Times]

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Friday Links: Little Street is Real

by Rea McNamara on November 20, 2015

A then and now of Vermeer’s Little Street. Credit: Rijksmuseum/The Art Newspaper

The original location of Vermeer’s “The Little Street” has been discovered. After a century of debate among scholars as to whether one of the earliest Northern European portraits of a middle class house exterior was real or fictitious, the buildings have been determined to be Trip Gate in Delft. [The Art Newspaper]
Silicon Valley has their over-valuated “unicorn” start-ups, and now Canada has their own name for those $1 billion plus tech companies: narwhals. How the arctic toothed whale embodies our pre-tech bubble burst no one knows—maybe when it all sinks, Canadian start-ups are able to break the ice with their tusk, constant apologizing, and self-deprecating humor. [Quartz]
In related news, a millennial Silicon Valley unicorn founder has let the world know he does not want cars, watches or gadgets: he wants to start collecting art, and has appropriately inspired a Twitter parody account of his potential art collection with quips like “it’s time to #swiperight on the #artworld.” [artnet news]
This confessional listicle from a recently out of work, 25 year independent video store employee is depressing. With the demise of the video store industry, here’s what we’re losing despite the convenience of Netflix: human interaction and a video library not solely shaped by the whims of licensing agreements. [Vox]
Holland Cotter thinks the Martin Wong retrospective survey at the Bronx Museum of the Arts is a must-see. He fondly reminisces about first encountering the “virtuoso realist” in the 1980s when he was briefly a clerk in the Met’s bookstore, and the critical eye he brought to his mystical city paintings. [New York Times]
Artist assistant: “John, BMW’s publicist needs a quote from you for the press release announcing the Art Car commission.” Baldessari: “Is this really necessary right now? I’m in the middle of something.” Assistant: “Cao Fei hasn’t gotten back to them yet.” Baldessari: “I really don’t care, just tell something corny about how it’ll be my ‘fastest artwork yet’.” [Autoblog]
London’s National Portrait Gallery just scored a $4.5 million donation from the Lucian Freud estate containing his letters, sketchbooks and early childhood drawings. [Artforum]
David Bowie has a new music video. There’s a sax solo and bandaged eyes and dancers moving with seizure-like movements and creepy kids. [The Awl]
Another arts publication has written a report about that digital art biennale Michael reviewed last week, analyzing the challenges digital art face from the establishment, but how that’s changing: Jon Rafman and Hito Steyerl are getting institutional shows, and there’s now a Canadian award for emerging digital artists with a $5000 purse. Oh, shameless self-promotion: the online pavilion I curated got a plug. [Canadian Art]
If you live in Berlin, you really have no excuse to be late ever again if you’re travelling via transit, especially since their transit authority has released a real-time map of their subway system. [Metafilter]

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Friday Links: Huh, Rodin?

by Paddy Johnson and Corinna Kirsch on April 17, 2015

Jeremy Bailey’s sickle-shaped iPhone case test print. <3. [Facebook]
Happy Friday! Here is a creepy, psychedelic sing-along on the topic of Jell-O. Brought to you by the musician Ariel Pink. [HUH.]
Someone is selling a Rodin on Craigslist. The sales writeup is lifted from from the Met. Buyer beware. [Craigslist via @shaneferro]
Relatedly, if you’re on Twitter follow Shane Ferro. She’s one of the best tweeters around. [Twitter]
Starbucks is being forced onto the side streets of New York because the rent is too high. [Commercial Observer]
Art critics Holland Cotter and Roberta Smith have picked out ten galleries to visit in various boroughs throughout the city. Finding art that’s likable is standard fare for art critics; what’s distinctive about their selections is how they focus on the changing landscape of each neighborhood, nearly as much as the art. Their write-ups capture a specific moment in gallery-time—before they move on, in the next wave of new developments. Cotter on the Upper East Side; Smith on Chelsea. [The New York Times]
After 12 years in office, Susan Henshaw Jones, will retire as director of the Museum of the City of New York. [Museum of the City of New York]
Spanx, and other shapewear, has been linked to a range of medical problems, like gastroesophogeal reflux disease. [Los Angeles Times]
Publicity stunt or “hell yes” moment? Gawker editor Hamilton Nolan writes an article about how his editorial staff met with union organizers. Gawker is thinking about forming a union; they’ve had one meeting about it. Nolan does write that “the organizing effort is still in the early stages” and “[i]t would be easier to have this conversation internally. But Gawker Media is, for better or worse, a company with a rich history of gossip.” [Gawker]

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Monday Links: Dog Burritos, Rated

by The AFC Staff on March 2, 2015

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Dog burritos. Corinna prefers the pug that looks like an Ewok. Paul prefers the puppy that is wrapped in an actual tortilla. Paddy wonders what the selection criteria we’re all using, and would agree with Paul if there wasn’t the worry that puppy could accidentally be eaten. Given that that’s the case, Paddy chooses the terrier wrapped in leopard print. [Sad and Useless]
After being cleared of phone-hacking charges, media maverick Rebekah Brooks is making headlines again. It is rumored that she will be rehired by Rupert Murdoch to head up the social-networking news site Storyful. Terrifying. [The Guardian]
What makes a movie bad ass? A thoroughly convincing essay on the subject. [The Weeklings]
Triennial reviews are coming out: AFC’s discussion of individual works includes this zinger from Corinna Kirsch “Panels leaning against pedestals. Where am I? An art fair?”. Over at artnet News, Paddy Johnson discuss the Triennial’s obsession with the figure. Holland Cotter at the New York Times says the show adds up to some of the most distinctive art of the past decade. Hyperallergic’s Thomas Micchelli finds the show lacks excitement, and its focus on technology given its ubiquitous presence “feels dated and even a little clueless.” Also at Hyperallergic, Benjamin Sutton found it too crowded. Art Agenda’s Andrew Stefan Weiner says the show looks like a Tumblr and has mixed feelings on its success. On the one hand there’s curatorial legerdemain. On the other, not all the works live up to artist and curator Ryan Trecartin’s example. ARTnews’s Andrew Russeth thinks the Triennial shows that “new ideas are on the rise,” and over at Christie’s, Brienne Walsh doesn’t think the show’s got enough cohesion. Given the number of cohesive moments identified by other critics, Walsh’s thesis is the most easily challenged of them all. [The Internet]
Paul Chan’s Hugo Boss Prize exhibition gets a nod from Holland Cotter at the Times. The reason why, though, remains a bit convoluted. “Mr. Chan’s work is always surprising and as smart as art gets, which means, among other things, that it’s smart enough not to always give us the art we think we want.” [The New York Times]
Yet another adventure in the life of the rich and famous. Swiss business magnate Yves Bouvier has been charged with fraud and money laundering for allegedly inflating the prices of Picasso, Modigliani, Gauguins; those works were then sold to Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev, who, if it matters to you, owns the Greek island of Skorpios, purchased from the Onassis family. [Luxembourger Wort]
Artists David O’Reilly and Kim Laughton have tricked news outlets into thinking that #HYPERREALCG, a Tumblr “showcasing the world’s most impressive & technical hyper-real 3d art,” consists of CGI-based work. It’s just “art.” [Metafilter, #HYPERREALCG]
In Bushwick, the Roberta’s Pizza Empire is crumbling. One of the three restaurant’s owners has split off, and is seeking $5.4 million for his stake in the company. [Brooklyn Magazine via New York Post]
Meet Andy Warhol’s family, the Warholas. They’re kickstarting a film called Uncle Andy—with your help! Now, for the low price of $2,500, you too can own a “Rusyn Tradition Decorated Ostrich Egg” painted by Warhol’s niece Madalen. Abby Warhola is apparently well trained in the art of the selfie. [Artforum]
Marina Abramovic is publishing a memoir. If you’re curious why the artist has decided to release a tell-all of her life in the former Yugoslavia, this is indeed about giving people “the courage to do the things they’re afraid to do in their own lives.” [Arts Beat]

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