The quibbling over the origin of Fountain overshadows a fascinating woman, Louise Varèse, and misses the radical departure from individual authorship. Dawn Ades and Alastair Brotchie have undertaken a comprehensive examination of this topic, and I will now provide a concise overview of their research. I will also incorporate my own insights into why this misinformation gained traction and offer a somewhat whimsical theory regarding the events of 1917 in Manhattan. The genesis of this narrative can be traced back to 2003, with the publication… Read More »
Klaatu barada nikto
Travelling in Co. Galway, western Ireland, in search of a food story, and I spot these words on the front of a house in the town of Gort, “Klaatu, barada, nikto”. It takes me a few seconds to remember the phrase comes from a film I watched when I was 12. A film I’m now thinking about again for lots of reasons. As many of you will know the 1951 film The Day the Earth Stood Still tells story of a human-looking alien, Klaatu (played… Read More »
Frieze Frenzy
I recently had the privilege of attending the highly anticipated Frieze London Art Fair 2022, an event that unfolded as a dynamic showcase of contemporary art’s latest, seamlessly blending market optimism with a captivating array of colourful thought-provoking artworks. As an attendee, I found myself immersed in the whirlwind, buzzing with excitement yet also experiencing conflicting sentiments about the fair. From the very moment I stepped in, I was captivated by the palpable energy and electric atmosphere that reverberated throughout the sprawling Regent’s Park tents…. Read More »
QUIETLY CANCELLING CAC
“I like talking to a brick wall- it’s the only thing in the world that never contradicts me!”― Oscar Wilde I’m writing this a year and a half after the initial incident, because it is not merely about that incident. It is allegorical, it is about how we conduct ourselves, and it is how we better the collective Irish Art World. The Institute of Real Art (IRA) debuted in October 2015 with several articles released on topics ranging from Amanda Coogan being a State Agent, IMMA… Read More »
Producing the contemporary along the hegemony of a past-day elite and a present silent majority: A perspective on independent art spaces in the Netherlands
By Freek Lomme, 2017. Over the past decade, I’ve been given quite a number of books by artist-run and independent art spaces, published on the occasion of their X-year existence, meant as calls-to-authority to policy makers and as relation gifts to the network. Hardly ever do matters reach another level: that of collective organisation, exchange of knowledge and so forth. People are simply happy celebrating yet another X-years of existence. It’s also for this financial and time-wise lack to go beyond, that this text will… Read More »
Is this the most unethical artwork ever made?
This is Las Corbatas (The Ties), a work by the artist Moris (Israel Meza Moreno) in the Galeria Ladrón (at the time, run by artists: Marco Aviña, Wendy Cabrera Rubio, Marek Wolfryd) in Mexico City. It was part of a solo exhibition by Moris called Ensuciándose las manos uno se puede hacer rico (Getting your hands dirty can make you rich). It is a cluster of dozens of stolen roadside memorial crosses suspended from the ceiling. These roadside memorials are found throughout Mexico City, are… Read More »
How to Be an Artist: 33 + 2 + 15 rules
Irish artist Mr. John Ryaner responded to Jerry Saltz’s ‘rules’ (as had the original publisher, Vulture magazine) in an Instagram story. I asked him if we could publish it… and here we are. I especially appreciate his candor in raising the role of drugs and alcohol in the art world. The whole piece is edited down. – Ed. Jerry Saltz’s 33 Rules for Being an Artist 1. Don’t Be Embarrassed 2. “Tell your own story and you will be interesting.” — Louise Bourgeois… Read More »
Berned Out
Why We Socialists Don’t Support Bernie Sanders for President Despite the fact that the Democratic Party is, along with the Republican Party, one of the twin pillars of U.S. imperialism, much of the U.S. left is looking for ways to accommodate—if not support—Bernie Sanders’ campaign to be the Democratic candidate for President of the United States.1 Some of these groups support liberal Democrats like Sanders as a matter of policy.2 Others need a special candidate to campaign for.3 In Bernie Sanders, many would-be left and… Read More »
Debunking the Imagery of the “Irish Slaves” Meme
Those that promote the meme of Irish perpetual hereditary chattel slavery use a variety of images entirely unrelated to indentured servitude to accompany their anti-history. Liam Hogan examined a selection of them. 1. Sale of a Slave Girl in Rome by Jean-Léon Gérôme (1884) The most popular image to accompany the spurious “Irish: the Forgotten White Slaves” articles. It is cropped from a painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme. In this work, Gérôme imagined a scene in a Roman slave market… about two thousand years ago. 2. The… Read More »
On the sidelines of graffiti on the Apartheid wall
There is no doubt that the Apartheid wall is a very tempting drawing surface for graffiti artists, only if it wasn’t positioned in such situation. When contemplating about this issue – taking into consideration the presence of the apartheid wall and the message it represents- one can learn that any act of drawing on such a surface would only beautify it to an extent where dealing with the Apartheid wall’s existence becomes natural and acceptable to the viewer’s eye making it also mentally acceptable. For… Read More »
Crisis of Criticism
Just over a year ago, the newly appointed editors of Paper Visual Art, Marysia Wieckiewicz–Carroll and Nathan O’Donnell, invited four arts writers to respond, present, and discuss the question: “What do you expect from art criticism?” The following is my talk, re-presented now as it continues to be an entirely unresolved issue in Irish Visual Arts. The following is by no means all encompassing and is a bit schematic. And don’t think I’ll answer the question “What do I expect from criticism?” I’m not sure what my… Read More »
5 Ways To Build a Movement after Ferguson
5 Ways To Build a Movement after Ferguson The following is one in a series of posts dealing with the wave of protest sweeping the United States following the police murder of Mike Brown and Eric Garner re-posted with permission from Unity and Struggle. 1. Work to abolish police and prisons, not to reform them. President Obama has passed legislation to put body cameras on police officers, but this won’t stop the cops from killing black folks. Eric Garner’s murder was caught on camera like… Read More »
Pinochet Porn – The Dictator and the Maid
Pinochet Porn – The Dictator and the Maid Works by Ellen Cantor, curated by Dallas Seitz and The Black Mariah.The Black Mariah, Cork6 October – 7 December 2014 Review by Darren Caffrey The Dictator and The Maid by American video artist Ellen Cantor was made as part of her magnum opus entitled Pinochet Porn. Cantor describes the work: “Pinochet Porn, a feature length soap opera on super 8! A story of five children growing up during the Pinochet regime into adulthood.” In 2013 she died,… Read More »
What the devil is the Dublin Biennial?
The second Dublin Biennial International Exhibition of Contemporary Art closed its 12 day showing on Sunday. Seemingly coming from ‘nowhere’ (i.e. not from the expected channels of arts production and dissemination) in 2012, it was met by many members of the Visual Arts community almost universally with condemnation. “It’s a scam” was the most common reaction. But why? Actually, the answer is very simple. It’s not a Biennial. Yes, of course it is happening every 2 years, with plans for one in 2016. And in… Read More »
Balls
Balls NCAD SU XXX-Mas Ball Image-Gate By Jim Ricks 30 March 2014 So there was this ‘something’ that happened up at NCAD in December, and it’s worth having a second look at. It is the kind of thing that one may say ‘I’m over it’. But, a number of interesting and important issues: politics, semiotics, feminism, pornography, power, all immediately come to mind. I was reflecting on Panti Bliss’s speech at the Abbey Theatre, and the simple and invaluable point she makes…. Read More »
Ultra-Left Destruction
The position I outline here is my own position only. It is based on my experience as a left-wing activist at national and international level over 50 years. It is my personal response to current disunity on the left. Competitive recruitment between the Socialist Party (SP) and the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) has destroyed the United Left Alliance (ULA) and is now narrowing the Campaign against Household and Water Taxes (CAHWT) to such an extent as to make it ineffective. The number of people… Read More »
Write Makes Right
Write Makes Right A conversation between Darren Caffrey and Jim Ricks Autumn – Winter 2012 DC: So how do you want to start? JR: The point is just to write truthfully in correspondence about what we see as the shortcomings, pitfalls, success stories, etc. taking place in Irish arts writing. I think the attached graph that James Merrigan of Billion Art Journal and Fugitive Papers produced a little over a year ago is an interesting starting point. I immediately countered his graph… Read More »
The 7th Berlin Biennale
Biennale press pass, welcome packet, newspaper-cum-event guide complete with custom fonts and logo. Initially, I had intended to write a review of the Biennale. Although I did I find it difficult to consider the various permutations of this festival in a positive light, it was ultimately the decentralized and event-based character of it that led to my decision not to. Perhaps, I should have committed to living in Berlin for 6 weeks. I suppose the political trajectory, or rather intent, of head curator Artur… Read More »
Delusion is a Refuge, A Refuge Under Siege
Delusion is a Refuge, A Refuge Under SiegeOn March 11, 2012 an article written by Nicky Larkin, someone I’ve counted amongst my friends for the last few years, appeared in the Sunday Irish Independent. I was taken aback by the title: Israel is a Refuge, A Refuge Under Siege , and thought hopefully there must be more to it than that. See, Nicky received a generous film project award from the Arts Council for €32,400 to create a documentary called Forty Shade of Grey. It’s… Read More »
Santa Rita, I Hate Every Inch of You
Santa Rita, I Hate Every Inch of You February 6, 2012 by Jeb Purucker Reblogged from Viewpoint Magazine Twenty-four hours into my incarceration in Santa Rita Jail, I found myself in yet another tactical conversation, dissecting the numerous failures that had led to the kettling and mass arrests of about 400 Occupy Oakland demonstrators. This is one of the few upsides of a mass arrest. After getting the rowdy activists off the streets, the police find themselves hosting a three-day strategy conference inside the… Read More »