BOOK | Critical Mess

A new book Critical Mess: Art critics and the state of their practice presents a series of essays by leading writers in the field discussing their declining readership and influence. A common lament is that most art writing is descriptive and offers little in the way of value judgement and opinion, Or that the writing is obscure, theory based and pedantic. Edited by Raphael Rubenstein.

Charles Giuliano writes of the anthology, "No child aspires to grow up and be an art critic ... Like virtually everyone who answers to the tag of art critic I got there by luck and circumstance. Having washed out of the Institute of Fine Arts as a student of Egyptology, that’s another story, I answered an ad in the Village Voice and landed the job as director of an artist’s cooperative, Spectrum Gallery, on 57th street. This is when I first encountered the notion that there was a crisis in the field of art criticism."

Read the full review online at:
http://www.maverick-arts.com

Read a transcript of an interview with Raphael Rubenstein at:
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/bookshow/stories/2006/1695912.htm