Quotes from today's NYTimes Roberta Smith review of the young painter whose first show somehow sold out before it even opened to buyers including the Guggenheim and Saatchi -
The artist's "colorful abstracted still lifes make capable, though hardly groundbreaking use of familiar quantities"
"This ham-handed Cubism almost cries out for a larger canvas"
"The smaller, much tamer "Sweet Adeline" could have been made by dozens of painters at any point during the last 30 years"
And there's a twenty person waiting list!
Martin,
ReplyDeleteOkay this is getting out of hand now. It seems like your main discontent is with the over inflated art market and the hyping of young artists. Your right to be annoyed- its crazy. However none of this is not Allison Fox's fault and its absurd to think so.
What do you mean her show "somehow" sold out before it opened?! Its an insane art market right now. It hasn't been uncommon for shows to do well or sell out for the past two years. And Allison makes strong work. I am guessing that you are insinuating Zach had some sort of hand in it? I know for a fact that is a load of crap.
I personally am a fan of Allison's work. I love how she creates super deep space, how intricate her surfaces are and her humor. But that's not the point here.
Allison's young. She's hard working and dedicated artist. She's still growing (like all artists who are any good and alive) and time will tell. The last two posts have proved nothing but it is much harder to be the wife of a dealer than not. Lay off the girl. Taking your frustration about the system out on her is pointless.
It was lame to take chunks of Roberta's review out of context. There was good stuff in there too. And anyways its not like Roberta is gospel. But even so at least you know the system is working. Critics talk about the work for better or for worse.
Zach was right about starting your own scene and community thats where the real power to change things is.
-Lucas
Martin,
ReplyDeleteIf you don't have a personal problem with the artist, but rather the hype surrounding young artists in general, why are taking pieces of the review out of context? Why not post the entire review or at least link to it? It seems like you are purely hating on an individual who has had success early in their career. What you are doing is offensive.
I second the opinion of the earlier post; it is time to lay off this woman. Her work is strong and you are making your overall point increasingly personal.
Have a good day.
Okay, I agree, enough's enough. I made a point of not using her name here and actually removed this post before I put it back up again. Actually, I have given a lot of thought to going back and changing names in previous posts and substituting initials. I have no desire to hurt specific people, and the Google effect is a drag. Brian gets googled a LOT! My points have been made.
ReplyDeleteLucas - thanks for posting thoughts about what you like about the work. I haven't seen it except for the site and think it's fine, nothing special, just fine.
If I could say one thing to make AF feel a little better - there's no such thing as bad publicity!
dear martin,
ReplyDeletethat's some intense stuff that went down on your blog. i am proud of you for cooking up so much hubbub. it was truly entertaining and fascinating to read all the allison fox-related stuff. kunty bush was a real whipper-snapper. i think the artworld is just a painful place, no matter where you are in the hierarchy. and it's nothing but poison for your work to have that hierarchy in your mind when you're in the studio. when you're making your own work, it's time to think magical thoughts like you will take over the world and make fabulous delights for all to behold. you will have fun and forget about all the hussies and scums. i am attempting to be more spiritual. or something.
love,
mountain man
By the way, I totally respect Zach's answers. I think it was ok to question connections in the artworld. It's all so complicated. Good luck to Allison. Sorry to have been a part of the badness.
ReplyDeleteAll LFL artists suck.
ReplyDelete