Here is an essay that I started writing and then lost comeplte interest in … have at it, write your finish of it, post it in your blog and send me a link. Winner get a free published critique of their art (via jpeg) by me if that means anything if not, winner gets proclaimed winner.
Something stinks in the art world. When a critic writes a review, the artist benefits (good or bad, he or she matters enough to have garnered press), the gallery benefits (they are seen as part of the dialogue) and the art world benefits by having a validation mechanism perform its duty.
But what is in it for the critic? Chump change, frankly, is all I ever made. A pretty obvious secret you will see is that lots of longtime art critics make lots of money in other fields, be it teaching, inheritances or shacking up with wealthy ex-pats. Email, lots of email press releases, hundreds of emails a week once you are known as an art writer, reporter, critic or blogger. Mail, lots of mail, press releases, postcards, books. I use the blank backs of unopened white press release envelopes to scribble driving directions on – easy to grab hold and read in the car. Never any checks, or never often enough.
If there were a moratorium on artists writing traditional reviews,