i would like to thank eric siegel for the very intelligent response to the post on the whitney biennale. i have some comments on his comments (hope that is permitted here.) siegel wrote: >My experience is that as soon as > anyone compares anything to the Nazis, all useful exchange stops, but if one > wants to provoke, evoking Hitler is a cheap and reliable way to do it. > Takes no skill, however, and it disappoints and depresses me, which I'm sure > was a major concern of the artist and the Whitney. very, very true. it is a tactic overused. unfortunately too many dont understand or dont want to understand the basic concepts behind that fact. it is im my view... an easy out. > The inclusion of this piece in the Biennale strikes me as cynical, > manipulative, dreary, and a complete abdication of curatorial or historical > judgement. this is also true. it strikes me as loss. why is there a loss? a void? sure there are problems with what is being done today. there is a lot being promoted but one problem i see is that there is so much work being made that is basically just 'group work.' same style. same genres... not really pushing ahead. too many artists are stuck in a time; then there are those who are just following the crowd. some work out there is truly interesting because it is heading in the right direction to me. for example although my gallery has a strong showing of german artists i am personally very interested in an abstraction that deals with physical terms (frank stella has been exploring this to an extent) instead of abstraction for abstractions sake (yes, we have all been there...done that.) not many are working in that direction. carole guthrie is with her textural painting addressing a non-painting physicality, or herbert hamak's work of mass and color form - this is truly modern and very contemporary. relating the abstract aspect of painting to physical properties beyond art, beyond the emotional. good work IS out there. the biennale this year should include some. > On the other hand, I was kinda anti-Ofilli until I saw a bunch of his work > at the Carnegie international exhibition. They were beautiful, decorative, > and playful (which was true of much of that wonderful exhibition). i agree with this also. i thought upon first reports i would find ofilli offensive but i decided not to let press or PR get into the way of his art. press can be very manipulative and can have that power. yes, they were beautiful, decorative and playful. but then again i'm very pro-damien hirst and find his work beautiful, decorative and playful. so what does this tell us? see the show as a whole? then decide. we know this show is supposed to be about new work. not all is going to be great. anyone else have views on this? thanks again eric. great thoughtful post. james linza managing director thegentry.com project for contemporary art Homepage: http://www.thegentry.com E-mail: [log in to unmask] Telephone: 561/301-2474 Text Messaging: [log in to unmask] Snail mail: P.O. Box 2474, Palm Beach, Florida 33480-2474 thegentry.com project for contemporary art is an Internet based e-commerce site that sustains programming in visual arts, poetry, arts news and education, and critical discourse. ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).