60 wrd/min art critic KC reviews
The short art review is at once a challenge, an insult, a record, and a piece of advertising. Its purpose is debatable and arguably quite different for the various parties involved: the writer gets a tear sheet, a couple of bucks, and some editorial gratification; the reader, in the best case scenario, gets a succinct, opinionated description of a body of work they probably did not see in person; and the artist gets published recognition and an entry for their bibliography. But think, for a moment, of the artist who has been reviewed carelessly, who has never been reviewed, who lives in a city where there is little local criticism. What then?
For three days at Urban Culture Project Space, Chicago-based art critic Lori Waxman received artists in need of reviews under the auspices of her project, the “60 wrd/min art critic.” Reviews, free of charge, were scheduled and written in twenty-five minute increments on Thursday, April 15, 12-2:30pm & 4-6:30pm; Friday, April 16, 2:30-5pm & 6:30-9pm; and Saturday, April 17, 12-2:30pm & 4-6:30pm
The 60 wrd/min art critic is many things: an exploration of short-form art writing, a work of performance art in and of itself, an experiment in role reversal between artist and critic, a democratic gesture and a circumvention of the art review process. At a time when newspaper and magazine art columns are disappearing, the “60 wrd/min art critic” aims to get a community talking about its own art.
Kansas City is among ten U.S. cities purposefully included in the list of destinations for the “60 wrd/min art critic.” Waxman has focused her project on vibrant regional arts communities, from Austin, TX to Portland, OR, from Durham, NC to Columbus, OH, whose artists rarely have opportunities to receive nationally published art reviews.
Lori Waxman is a Chicago-based critic and art historian. She publishes regularly in the Chicago Tribune and Artforum, and has written catalogue essays for small and large art spaces, including Spertus Museum in Chicago; Spaces Gallery in Cleveland; INOVA in Milwaukee; and Dieu Donné Papermill in New York. She teaches art history at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
The 60 wrd/min art critic is a project of the Creative Capital | Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant Program.
REVIEWS:
