Category Archives: Chelsea Galleries

[#hashtag] Class Dismissed. Everyone gets an A for Effort. Well, Almost Everyone.

William Powhida makes transgressive, self-reflective, art; and his subjects are often people—or prevailing notions of—Power. Hence, I shouldn’t have been surprised last night when he suddenly called me out as conducting the most in-your-face, authoritarian, put-people-on-the-spot-to-give-a-right-answer #hashtagclass session that he’s seen yet. [Sorry, I have to paraphrase on the above; I was writing on my computer [...]
Also posted in Recession Advice, Uncategorized, Writing Advice for Artists | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

An open letter to Ed Winkelman, SVA, Dan Cameron, or anyone in a position to help artists speak Truth to Power: we do need “A New Currency”

No wonder artists have a hard time writing statements. Rebelling against the need to write is the only self-defense/self-preservation mechanism they have left in a system that seeks to compartmentalize them. Do you want funding? [asks the foundation] Explain how what you do fits in with our criteria for what’s worth $. Want me to [...]
Also posted in DIY Art, Recession Advice, Uncategorized, Williamsburg Art and Galleries, Writing Advice for Artists | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Critic writes half-ass artist’s statement on a paper bag at Cafe Grumpy

My friend (if he still is my friend), Kurt Strahm, seems worried that I may not be able to hack writing artists’ statements in 15 minutes at Winkelman this Wednesday; so, I offer to write him one on the spot—only he’ll have to wait ’till after I use the rest room.  He insists (to toughen [...]
Also posted in DIY Art, Recession Advice, Uncategorized, Williamsburg Art and Galleries, Writing Advice for Artists | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Jerry Saltz stole my focus @hashtagclass; he wrote an artist’s statement faster than I did. (Updated 03/14)

[I just updated this post to include the statement I wrote—all the way at the bottom.-SS] Mild-mannered writer (that’s me) walks into Winkelman, looking for a willing/unsuspecting artist who will let me test out my ability to write an artist’s statement in under 15 minutes (in prep for my statement-writing event, next week). Enter, one [...]
Also posted in Uncategorized, Writing Advice for Artists | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

i will attempt to write artists statements—in real time, at #hashtagclass

You may think it’s hard to endure writing or reading artists’ statements; so please take heart that I’m now turning statement writing into an endurance piece. We shall see if I can come out standing. Read about the show on the blog, or just come to Winkelman Gallery in Chelsea. I was inspired by Lucy van [...]
Also posted in Recession Advice, Writing Advice for Artists | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Roberta Smith: WooHoo! Crowd-hungry museums, following “latter-day Postminimalism” get their comeuppance

In the New York Times, Sunday. As you prob know. RS sounds off masterfully on the subject of why museum solo shows of work by contemporary artists all feel cool, distant, alike. Or, rather, “part of a big-box chain featuring only one brand.” …What’s missing is art that seems made by one person out of intense [...]
Also posted in Recession Advice, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

busy photo dealer, Pamela Schoenberg, in this month’s “Photograph” mag

Gotta love the cover of this month’s Photograph, to which I contribute. It’s an image by French photographer Denis Darzacq, courtesy of Laurence Miller gallery, as described by Lyle Rexer. On my end, I got to talk to a swell photo dealer, Pamela Mayers Schoenberg, her profile excerpt, below: Want to get a job done? Ask a [...]
Posted in Chelsea Galleries | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

A good press release for a really good painter: Bill Jensen (at Cheim & Read)

Press releases tend to be poorly written, rarely telling me what I really need to know about a particular show or artist. That said, this new one for Bill Jensen (an amazing painter’s painter) was pretty swell. It’s not trying to be scintillating, but it is informative. Excerpt: Jensen is also inspired by Taoist philosophy, Chinese [...]
Posted in Chelsea Galleries | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

buy photos for very little money in….Chelsea

Alan Klotz. My former professor. A real Photo Maven. And, a guy who just happens to have a photography sale every year, same time, same place. 511 W. 25th Street (his gallery). This is fine art photography, guys. The stuff you invest in for the long term. Since times are sooo hard right now, I can only [...]
Also posted in Recession Advice | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Rolling homage

This, by Iván Navarro, whose show is coming up December 10 at Paul Kasmin, Chelsea. This, by way of explanation, from Kasmin’s press release: “Die” (2009) is the second of Navarro’s sculptures to respond to the American sculptor Tony Smith’s famous six-foot steel cube, “Die” (1962). Smith’s sculpture was designed to match human scale; he claimed that [...]
Posted in Chelsea Galleries | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment