Criticizing the Critics: Three takes on Searle

Apparently the audience for Guardian critic Adrian Searle's Toronto lecture last Sunday was a packed one. I unfortunately couldn't make it, though I did see Searle on an Art Publishing for the Digital Age panel on the Saturday. (Problem with anything containing the words "digital age" -- it seems to be an excuse for everyone to bring up their general complaints with the Interweb. But it was good to see the different approaches of Searle (literary, slightly cantankerous, no-blogging) and Vidokle (interested in high crit, free access, having readers in Islamabad).)

Anyway, I just wanted to point out three takes on Searle that I found informative, given my absence at the lecture:

1) Terence Dick's latest blog post at Akimbo. An excerpt:

Searle ticked off some people by repeatedly referring to the AGO (the gallery he visited earlier that day) as the National Gallery. He then stuck his foot in his mouth again, talking about the Ydessa “Hernandez” Gallery with Ms. Hendeles sitting in the audience before him. He made up for this faux pas by gushing over her curatorial acumen and favouring her lack of instruction through wall panels and explanatory texts over the far too obvious strategies of the “National Gallery” (aka the AGO).

2) Bryne McLaughlin's Q&A with Searle at Canadianart.ca (which I know about because I help edit there). An excerpt:

BM: As we have here with the Sobey Art Award, which was just given out last week to David Altmejd.

AS: A set designer really, isn’t he. I mean he’s all right, but where would he be without silicone glue?

BM: Perhaps, but his exhibition at the 2007 Venice Biennale did bring significant international attention to a young Canadian artist, which can be a rare thing.

AS: Janet Cardiff got it, didn’t she? And Rodney Graham’s Vexation Island was one of the big hits of that particular biennale.

BM: And Mark Lewis this year…

AS: I’m not the biggest fan. It’s all a bit rhetorical isn’t it? And you know what, I can’t remember a single thing about his show. I can’t remember anything, really, although I spent half an hour in there. Whereas the Czech and Slovak pavilion, which was literally nothing, I remember intensely. Isn’t that strange, but it’s the way it goes.

3) Stephanie Vegh's summation of the lecture (accompanied by her misgivings about TIAF) is briefer. A tidbit:

In addressing a theme only briefly discussed during a preceding forum on Art Publishing in the Digital Age, Searle expressed a certain regret over the realities of art-writing in a deadline driven culture, particularly one exasperated by the immediacy of the internet. This generates a criticism of first impressions, which leaves little time for the transformations of opinion and impact that come from reflecting on an exhibition; a second thought may prove more fruitful, more correct than the first.

Any other opinions on the lecture knocking around out there?

Image of Searle lecturing in Toronto from Canadianart.ca

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Roller Derby Radness - Review of Lois Andison @ Olga Korper Gallery

As I hinted last week, I really enjoyed some of the works in Lois Andison's current show at Olga Korper Gallery. Today NOW ran my review of the exhibition. Here's an excerpt:

It’s pretty unusual (or as some might say, terrible) for a critic to wish that an art show had opened earlier to coincide with movie premieres and celebrity sightings.

Nevertheless, I can’t help thinking that Lois Andison’s current exhibition, which features a compelling video of women on roller skates, could have benefited from launching with Whip It at this year’s TIFF – if only to make a couple of sales to Barrymore, et al., and benefit from associated word of mouth.

Andison’s work is certainly strong enough to deserve a wider audience, be it in Hollywood or elsewhere.

NOW also ran its Best of Toronto picks today. If readers are wondering about the process for this on the art front, basically the editors ask their critics (in this case, Fran Schechter, David Jager and myself) for potential winners in each category. Then the editors decide the ultimate winner. For my part, I was pulling for James Carl as best artist -- the three-venue survey last winter was a real eye opener in terms of both virtuosity and incisiveness. And while the Barnicke, NOW's top pick, is a great gallery that had a super year (what with that little trip to Venice and all) I had been thinking of Diaz Contemporary, a commercial gallery that does consistently solid and well installed shows.

I can be blamed, however, for the pick of Nuit Blanche as top art event. I think it has tons of problems and areas to shape up on to maintain this title in the future, but for now there ain't nothing else with its audience and potential.

Image from a still of Andison's video work from NOW

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RBC Competition had "Most Difficult Jury Ever" - Q&A in today's National Post

One thing that's great about the increasing numbers of arts awards in Canada is they draw a lot of news attention to young artists. But these prizes can also be quite difficult to decide. Today the National Post published my Q&A with RBC 2009 juror John Kissick—and while Kissick thinks the award is doing a great job, he also admits that the jury was one of the most difficult group dynamics he had ever encountered (albeit with the caveat that getting nine art folks to agree on damn near anything can be a challenge). Here's an excerpt:

Q Though all the artists in this competition are Canadian, there's little of what we might call "identifiable Canadian content." Why?

A One thing that is pretty clear right now, with technology and art magazines being what they are, is that anything new and interesting in New York City on a Tuesday can be all over Toronto by Wednesday. The older notion of a regional group of painters all doing the same thing doesn't happen significantly anymore. Unless a painter is quoting from a national art history, the arena of discourse is big--it's global now.

Having said that, there are several artists who deal with issues of landscape, a form that is pretty entrenched in the Canadian psyche. Another thing that identifies Canadian artists is a tendency to articulate their practice in a way that doesn't happen as much in other countries. Because the art market is not great in Canada, artists are tied to granting organizations. The need to make an effective artist statement to justify one's practice is a huge issue. It's pretty hard to survive without being able to do that.

Overall, I think our nationality is now reflected in acceptance of a plurality of styles --and I think that is a very Canadian attitude.

Reader, if it's not apparent to you by now, I very much enjoy asking basic questions.

Image of RBC Canadian Painting Competition award winner Brenda Draney's Aim is Important 2009 from RBC

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Re: Readings

Just wanted to highlight a few items from other media:

Report from Vancouver (Akimblog) - Writer Aaron Peck provides a nice snapshot of recent events in Vancity, from the much-reviled funding cuts to the Owen Kydd show at the VAG, which I had been wondering about. A lament is also made for the Helen Pitt Gallery.

Shary Boyle wins $25,000 Iskowitz Prize (VoCA) - While I'm not in the "Shary wuz robbed!" camp on the Sobey Award front this year, it's good to see Boyle get some recognition from the AGO here, a much more appropriate venue. Boyle's practice is really strong all around: on craft, concept and a certain exploratory dreaminess. Well deserved.

Blogging the Best TO Shows (Sally & LM) - Sally and LM continue to post photos of top Toronto shows before anyone else, really. And the ephemera posts, like pics of Emmor Ray Sperry's boardgames, continue to blow the mind.

Farewell, Anonymous (Prairie Artsters) - Edmonton critic Amy Fung ixnays anonymous commenters, raising issues that many art outlets should now be thinking about.

Image from Hark! A Vagrant at Topatoco.com

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Bought: Art!

Seeing as how the Toronto International Art Fair, which wrapped today, put the focus on the purchasing of art, I thought I'd use this opportunity to review my most recent art-collection addition: a ceramic bird-form from Creative Works Studio, seen above. It ran me into the mid-single digits, and I absolutely love it, for some unknown and mystical art reason. I partially blame the Harold Klunder paintings I reviewed earlier in the month, which I think attuned me to a similar colour palette. It's that, or, you know, my childhood or psychic compost or something.

In any case, I bought this work at the Creative Works Studio booth at the Queen West Art Crawl this summer. My friend Marlena Zuber, a talented illustrator and artist, works in a support capacity at the studio, which "offers healing and recovery through the creative arts" and "provides an oasis from the daily rigors and challenges of life for people living with a mental illness."

CWS is a pretty great place and I swear that every time I drop by there, I see something I want to own. Though I usually have to stick with the small stuff.

In other art-purchasing news, the Art Gallery of Ontario bought three works at TIAF:
Suzy Lake's Are You Talking to Me? 1979 from Paul Petro Gallery
Cal Lane's Love Rug 2008 from Art Mur
and
Elizabeth McIntosh's Untitled (Sale Flags and Crowns) 2008 from Diaz Contemporary

I am really glad to see the AGO purchasing these strong works by Canadian artists who, er, happen to be women. I think they are all pretty solid. If I had more cash money, I might have bought them too.

In terms of other sales figures for the fair, I'm not really sure what the situation is. (I think I may have to go to a few more fairs before I have the sales radar--saydar?--that those hardnosed international art-market reporters have.)

I do know that overall the best TIAF elements from my perspective (as I tweeted earlier on the weekend) were the Next Dealers section (which seemed to bend the rules a bit on "up and coming" criteria this year), the Castor Design lounge, which was made of bubble wrap and resulted in hours of delightfully obsessional popping activity, and the AGYU booth featuring the Buy-Sellf Collective. A lot of the rest of the fair was so-so.

Most disappointing/sad was TIAF's Heartland exhibition, which was supposed to feature Canadian art through the ages (and maybe make up for a lack of Western/regional dealers?). It was quite disappointing--a lot of the works were super, but the installation really bit the dust, a fact highlighted by the appearance of my mega pet peeve, horribly crafted and installed exhibition labels! A higher quality of installation and wall texts is really needed if this kind of thing is to be undertaken again. Kind of shameful, really.

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Last Chance: Blue Republic @ Peak

Someone tweeted the other day that they felt TIAF was worth about three hours of their time. I can't vouch for that yet myself, but if you do happen to be looking for other art options this weekend, I recommend catching Blue Republic @ Peak Gallery. The show, which features totally wonderful photos of water-on-rock drawings, closes tomorrow.

Also worth seeing up in that neck of the woods:

Lois Andison @ Olga Korper - Loved, loved, loved a couple of the works in this show. More on that next week, hopefully, but for now, recommended.

Elena Popova @ Tinku - A small, enjoyable show of colourful, lovingly made prints. It's about the visual pleasure, people.

Christy Langer @ Christopher Cutts - Langer's impressively crafted zombie-like animal sculptures have almost always wowed technically. But in the light of North America's vampire craze I have to say they become even more compelling -- whether the artist likes that reading or not. You think Bunnicula is the last word in bloodsucking cuties? Try Langer's Peacockcula, or Sparrowcula. (To be clear, these are my titles, not hers.) There's a lot of other content here, of course, around the uncanny, environmental meltdown, taxidermy, etc. But so help me Van Helsing, the True Blood connection is what stayed with me this time around.

Image of Blue Republic's "Ladder" from their Water Drawings series from Peak Gallery

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TIAF Plan of Attack Now Up

Further to my post on the Toronto International Art Fair's gallery dropout the other day, my plan of attack for getting the best from the downsized fair just got posted at the National Post's Toronto blog. (It should also run in print tomorrow.) Here's an excerpt of my recommendations:

1. Montreal Madness The fair continues to boast a strong presence from excellent Montreal galleries. Top space Parisian Laundry will feature witty sculptor Valérie Blass and humorous trio BGL, while Pierre-François Ouellette plans to show intelligent work from rising star Adad Hannah and thoughtful photog Isabelle Hayeur. René Blouin, a respected long-time dealer on the Montreal scene, is always worth a peek, and the presence of fair first-timer Galerie Push, which has organized shows by compelling younger artists such as Wil Murray in the past year, gets the curiosity vote.

2. Taking the Long Way Home In an appropriately eccentric turn, Iris Haussler, one of Toronto’s most enigmatic artists, will be debuting new works at the fair via the booth of Vienna, Austria’s Galerie Grita Insam. Haussler, who created an art-installation-cum-clothing-library at Honest Ed’s last winter, and who currently has a mysterious archaeological dig ongoing at the AGO’s Grange, is premiering bronzes by imaginary sculptor Joseph Wagenbach. Confused? Haussler will be on hand to explain at 3 p.m. on Saturday and Monday.

3. Top Talks A series of chats organized by the Power Plant will be a TIAF highlight. Guardian art critic Adrian Searle, one of the world’s best-read cultural journalists, will give a lecture on Sunday at 3 p.m., while Richard Flood, a zeitgeist-setting New York curator, will gab at a forum Saturday at 11 a.m.

If you are going to hear Flood speak, it's worth keeping in mind the critique that Hrag Vartanian recently made of the New Museum's decision to show the collection of one of its board members -- takes the bloom off the rose a bit, but I think it will still very much be worth hearing Flood talk, if only to get a sense of his take on the matter.

Image of a past TIAF from canadianart.ca

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