Workshop // Writing About Art

I was looking forward to this lecture as I felt it was the most relevant to me as an Art Historian. I really enjoyed this lecture and found it to be quite inspiring.

We learnt about many places where writings about art are published; for example many newspapers but these are often reviews of London-centric and high profile exhibitions  Additionally, Art Journals such as art Monthly, Frieze, AN and Creative Review are places where one would find more critical, in depth and longer reviews as these are aimed at a specified audience unlike newspapers.

But when thinking about exhibitions and art reviews, it questions the smaller exhibitions that aren't in London and aren't high profile. Cathy Lomax edits and published ARTY, an idiosyncratic publication in which 'fans of art' review smaller exhibitions and events thus goes against the increasingly elitist writings of art.

Also discussed was online ways of publishing our own writings about art. For example through blogs and AN's Interface. 

Interface allows anyone and everyone to post their reviews, writings, thoughts and opinions about recent exhibitons and allow anyone to read them. Interface also gives the opportunity to write a review of a certain exhibition for them and they will cover the costs via a bursary. These exhibitions can be anywhere from Europe to anywhere in the UK. This really grabbed my attention as I love writing about art (hence the CAH degree!) but it would be the most fantastic opportunity for a student or as a young adult wanting to kick start their career.

Later in the workshop we discussed different ways of writing about art. As JJ Charlesworth and James Elkins discuss in "What is Criticism: The State of Criticism", the art critics is becoming unimportant and claim that art dealers are the only ones who can judge the value of art. 

"The critic is becoming a dandified copywriter producing beautiful writing about beautiful objects and their beautiful makers:...such writing pandering to reflective cultural sensibilities of writer and reader, avoids conflict over what constitutes good, interesting or worthwhile art" Elkin, J (2005) What Happened to Art Criticism, University of Chicago Press. (From Rosie's Lecture 18-03-1013)

I agree with this statement as it seems, increasingly, more and more art critics do not have anything bad to say about whatever they are reviewing. I would like to hear some honest reviews, especially if they are written about the high-profile expensive exhibitions. This is why JJ Charlesworth's writing on Jake & Dinos Chapman really caught my eye. It was refreshing to see such a honest, as well as colloquial, reviews; Charlesworth is brutally honest in his opinions but this is what is needed in order for art critics to become critical once again, rather than just 'producing beautiful writing about beautiful objects and their beautiful makers'.

This was a most inspiring lecture/workshop.