January 2007 Archives
Over the weekend, I ran across a del.icio.us link to Chris Jordan's latest work, Running the Numbers. The work is a series of photomosaics designed to illustrate large-number statistics about American culture, such as the number of prison inmates or daily consumption of office paper. At first, I was pleased to see Jordan begin to carve out a space for himself that did not rely on (unfavorable) comparisons to Edward Burtynsky, but the more I mulled it over, the more I realized Jordan's attempts to build artistic cred lead him to stray into the worst sort of shallow, kneejerk political art. Particularly offensive is "Jeep Liberty", two wide red swatches unmistakedly mimicking the Twin Towers, made up of 200,000 tiny Jeep Liberty SUVs, the number sold each year in the US since they were introduced in 2002 (according to Jordan). Another, a mosais representation of Seurat's A Sunday on La Grande Jatte made up of soda cans is a heads scratcher, mostly just a visual stunt with little or no underlying meaning. If he's been able to make any point, it's only that statistics, like photography, have limited rhetorical power when displayed alone and stripped of their context.
I'm sure it'll be a big hit.
Foley Gallery has started a blog - http://foleygallery.blogspot.com/. So far the posts are more "behind the scenes" than the rarefied theory-talk you find here, but no matter. Go find out the trials and tribulations of putting on Thomas Allen's latest show and getting the catalog done just right. (via MAO)
I used the word "provincial" the other day to describe the photographic selections from the Chicago Tribune and it wasn't a complement. Which is too bad, because I definitely recognize that the best photographic work around isn't being made in New York, it's being made in those places (like the one where I was born) we on the coasts derisively refer to as "fly-over states."
The New Museum is hosting a panel discussion on the 10th (Weds) entitled "Location, Location, Location! Is Provincial a Bad Word?" focusing on the place of regional arts in our global market place. The rise of Chinese art should be a part of this, though it doesn't appear any particular expert on this movement is in attendance (granted, I'm not even mildly familiar with the panelists.) And the usage I made above (coastal vs interior US arts) doesn't appear to be part of the panel, though being rather US-centric, that's most interesting to me. Combine the two and you can start probing the reaction US-born Chinese get once collectors discover that despite the name, they're not "real" Chinese and prices start heading south.
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION! Is Provincial a Bad Word?
A Hot Button Panel from the New Museum
Weds, Jan 10
6:30-8PM
The Great Hall at The Cooper Union
7 East 7th St
(212) 219-1222
Admission is six bucks, free for New Museum members and Cooper Union students.
Moderated by Richard Flood, Chief Curator at the New Museum. Flood is fresh to NYC from the Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis, so should have a good grasp of the regional issues I've noted above.
The family made the trek into town for a gallery crawl Saturday Morning. High on the list was Brian Ulrich's Copia. Unfortunately, no one was home at Julie Saul Gallery at either 10 or 10:30 when we stopped by, so it'll have to be added for another time.
In the mean time, there's a mini-review at Modern Art Obsession, and more extensive commentary at AFC.
Brian Ulrich
Copia
Thru Feb 10 at Julie Saul Gallery
535 W. 22nd St
(212) 627-2410
Tyler Green has posted brief commentary on a number of photographers' works seen at the recent Miami art fairs, including Sara Pickering's explosion pics, reviewed a year ago here despite Tyler's description of her work as "new". I continue to see her work pick up additional notice over time. Slow and steady wins the race.
I just ran across the video of Edward Burtynsky's lecture/acceptance speech for his 2005 TED award. It runs 30 minutes. (The embedded video didn't seem to work, so you have to head over to the TED site.)
One of these days I will probably give this blog up and just set a redirect to Alec Soth's blog. Nearly every post he makes is deeply thoughtful about both the practice of photography and our daily encounters with the medium. Envy! Today he's posted an excellent bit on author's photos, which are a unique blend of art and commerce.
This comes a bit late, as do my Christmas cards, but nevertheless, a 2006 "Best Photos" roundup:
Time magazine
NY Times
Washington Post
Newsweek/MSNBC
Christian Science Monitor
Chicago Tribune
Reuters
The Time and NY Times photos are the best of the lot. The Chicago Tribune's are particularly provincial in topic and treatment.
UPDATE: For a much more comprehensive list, check out the 2006 roundup.
