by Jerome du Bois
A few days ago Franklin Einspruch at artblog.net posted a neat, sweet piece on the dismal state of local art criticism (in Miami), and he used a perfect image:
In newspapers, visual art is going the way of poetry.
You know how you occasionally see a poem in the paper? A book review of a new poetry collection? An author profile? Or sometimes a colorful spread about several young, up-and-coming poets in the local entertainment weekly? One day, sooner than you like, that's going to be the case for visual art. Maybe not in New York and Los Angeles, but likely here in Miami.
I know what he means. It's been sooner than I like for years here in Phoenix. Take our most recent (March 5-7) Art Detour, the yearly downtown self-guided arts district brouhaha, where artists (80 this year) open their studios to the public and buses shuttle people around. The Arizona Republic printed a two-page map and a short article by John Carlos Villani as a preview. The New Times ran a preview by Amy Silverman, a staff (but not arts) writer. And that's it. Nothing before or since. Shorter than haiku.
Villani writes excellent reviews -- but for Art News and other publications. Why the Republic won't let him do the same thing there is beyond me. (This year's Detour featured several public art projects that could have been previewed, for example.) His preview is pure predictable puff, some editor's work. New Times has never encouraged a real arts writer, and here Silverman winds up her preview with an amazingly cruel paragraph. After pretty much plugging everyone whose name and gallery we already know, and touting the "burgeoning" downtown scene, she writes this:
If there is a criticism to be made of Art Detour, it is that much of the art is very young -- which, frankly, in a lot of cases means not very good. And sometimes, very bad. For some, the idea that just about anybody can be an artist during Art Detour -- or, for that matter, any day of the year in Phoenix -- is the beauty of the experience. The juried show at MetroArts charter high school will likely feature some of the best art out there this weekend.
I'm sure all the participating artists (I wasn't one) -- some of whom have been around for sixteen years -- just loved that backhanded endorsement. High school? (Well, it fits, since teenagers and college kids flood most First Fridays -- the monthly downtown gallery tours -- creating crawling conga lines in every crowded venue, and making the contemplation, much less purchase, of art absurd.)
But the biggest empty hole where there should have been print came from Shade magazine. There wasn't one. There wasn't a special issue (an issue is overdue anyway), featuring Art Detour and the whole downtown scene, to sell to the crowds who may only come down once a year. It is inexplicable. Wayne Rainey, owner of Shade Projects and monOrchid gallery and supposed urban super booster -- "Let's build this city and let's build it right" -- fell down on the job here. But he shares responsibility with the rest of the Shade board, including especially Glen Lineberry of Bentley Gallery/Projects, a veteran of Scottsdale venues. There should have been something other than the brochure for visitors to take away, but there wasn't.
That's not professional. That's high school.