Oldie but a Goodie: Critic on Call

Even before Facebook, Twitter et al. it was hard for artists to figure out how to relate to critics, and vice versa.

It doesn't help, of course, that some critics are quite chummy in style, others more distant. For my part, I prefer to have professional, not personal, relationships with artists and gallerists. What does this mean in the real world? Liz Wylie summarized it well in her 2003 essay "An Open Letter to Artists: Confessions from a Recovering "Critic-on-Call"." (scroll down to item 2 for the piece).

As Wylie describes: "We writers on art are not so different from artists. Like artists, we have often spent years learning our craft and developing our practice. Like artists, we are dedicated professionals, often crazy about the visual arts, and have had to work at all kinds of day jobs in order to support our habit. We love to look at art and to write about the art that excites us. But, we need to see and consider an artist¹s work before we know if we want to write on it at all. A piece of critical writing is not a personal favour, neither should one be viewed as promotion. The writing may end actually up being negative, of course, so be braced for this possibility no matter what your relationship with the critic."

Thanks to Andrew Wright for the link.