Inauguration Day
The Coronation of Napoleon and Josephine (detail) Jacques-Louis David 1805-7.
The Pervasive Ignorance of Westerners
Starting this January 6th, the Stephen Cohen Gallery in Los Angeles is holding an exhibit of photos by Tseng Kwong Chi, and reading from the press release the show presents “tongue-in-cheek images of the artist posing as a Chinese Communist dignitary or ‘Ambiguous Ambassador’ in a world utterly alien to his persona, complete with the classic Mao suit, dark glasses…
Neoism: “X” me out
What is Neoism? Just another permutation of postmodern entropy. An incomprehensible and pointless muddle posturing as the latest avant-garde art movement. Best summed up by its founder, Istvan Kantor, when he stated, “We are the Neoists, do not listen to us.” German police arrested Kantor last November on charges of property damage. He had splashed a container of his own…
One Thousand and One Nights
This photo shows a US occupation soldier standing near a painting by an anonymous Iraqi artist. The artwork was inspired by the tales of One Thousand and One Nights, the classic book of Arab literature. First compiled in Arabic during the 9th century, the stories have inspired untold thousands of artists. It is the only Arabic work to have become…
Depoliticized art much more dramatic?
Some months ago I was reading a Los Angeles art magazine’s review about an artist’s painting that had as its theme the terror attacks of 9/11. The reviewer made the following comment about the artwork: “the artist managed to de-politicize the work and therefore make its impact that much more dramatic.” The reviewer’s assertion reveals a pathological aversion to politics…
“Can’t draw or paint, must be an artist.”
Stuart Jeffries writing for the UK Guardian, conducted a fawning interview with Jeremy Deller, winner of the esteemed Turner Prize. When the reporter asked, “You can’t draw, you can’t paint – how do you get the nerve to call yourself an artist?”, Deller replied, “The thing is – the world has moved on. You’re not writing with quills on parchment….
Dorothea Lange: Artist/Observer
Throughout her long working life as a photographer, Dorothea Lange produced some of the most riveting photographic images in history. She documented the great depression in the US, the internment of Japanese Americans, strikes and workers on relief, the armies of unemployed and displaced farmers who left the dustbowl states for California. An extraordinary woman with enormous talent and a…