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By Nato Thompson The Independent Voice of the Visual Arts Volume 35 Number 2, January 2021 ART REDISTRIBUTED? $15 U.S. NEW ART EXAMINER ART REDISTRIBUTED? COVER CREDITS FRONT Marianna Olague, Mom Delivers Grubhub, 2020, oil on canvas, 66" x 50”. Photo courtesy of David Klein Gallery. BACK LEFT: Marianna Olague, Todo Se Vuelve Alma, 2019, oil on canvas, 66” x 52”. BACK RIGHT: Marianna Olague, Mom Delivers Grubhub, 2020, oil on canvas, 66" x 50”. Photos courtesy of the artist. Vol. 35, No. 2 January 2021 Contents ARTICLES 3 Art Redistributed? 26 COVID-19 and the —Introduction Creative Process(es) Two Final Interviews from Chicago—Introduction 5 Money Moves for the 27 Carlos Flores Alternative Art World CARLOS FLORES is General Manager at the Chicago Art Department (CAD), NATO THOMPSON offers his clear- a nonprofit community art center in eyed view on fine art and money, Pilsen offering residencies for twenty pointing to the D.C. hardcore scene as artists and over a hundred free pro- a model for alternative systems. grams to the community per year. 32 Jessica Campbell JESSICA CAMPBELL is a Canadian visual artist and cartoonist currently 8 Art Handler based in the U.S. Midwest. She has Confidential had solo exhibitions at the Museum of An anonymous art handler tells all, Contemporary Art (Chicago), Western shining a light on exploitation, inequal- Exhibitions (Chicago), and Laroche/ ity, and greed in the industry. Joncas (Montréal) as well as numerous group exhibitions. 14 Essay’d: A New Model for Arts Writing? 35 The Łódź Murals: KA LETTS considers a novel approach An Old Alternative for to art writing, Essay’d (essayd.org). Distributing Art MICHEL SÉGARD examines the murals in Łódź, Poland, which function as pow- erful public art rather than political propaganda. 18 The Money Power and Art DIANE THODOS critiques neoliberal- ism, explaining how current economic realities have undermined progress in 41 Nine Lives: Remember the visual arts. ing Paul Klein NEIL GOODMAN eulogizes Paul Klein, a fixture of Chicago’s art scene. Table of Contents continued on page 2. 1 NEW ART EXAMINER Contents Continued REVIEWS 46 These Precedented 53 "What black is this, Times: you say?" Ongoingness in the Los An- Amanda Williams at geles Piñata District through Rhona Hoffman Gallery Dulce Soledad Ibarra’s NATHAN WORCESTER visits Amanda Williams’ “What black is this you say?”, “9th to Olympic” a multiplatform color project first While some things may have changed developed on Blackout Tuesday (June in the COVID-19 era, BEN NICHOLSON 2, 2020). sees that many others have stayed the same, filtering his observations through his response to Dulce Soledad Ibarra’s “9th to Olympic.” 55 “Gatekeepers" and "Corazon Y Dignidad" K.A. LETTS appreciates three artists, 50 "Graft" Marianna Olague at Detroit's David Klein Gallery, and Rosa María Zamarrón Edra Soto at the Museum of and Amelia E. Duran at Galerie Camille, Contemporary Photography linking their work to the Hispanic experience in America. FRANCINE ALMEDA reacts to Edra Soto’s “Graft,” an exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Photogra- phy that heals rather than harms in its examination of trauma. NEW ART EXAMINER Correspondents: Rusty Freeman—St. Louis The New Art Examiner is published by the New Kelli Wood—Nashville Art Association. The name “New Art Examiner” Neil Goodman—Los Angeles is a registered trademarks of the New Art Asso- Sara Rouse—Los Angeles ciation. Copyright 2020 by New Art Association; Luis Martin—New York City all rights reserved. Authors retain copyright to their essays. Design and Layout—Michel Ségard Editorial Staff: Website: Editor in Chief—Michel Ségard www.newartexaminer.org Managing Editor—Nathan Worcester Assistant Editor—Evan Carter Office: Detroit Editor—K.A. Letts 5555 N. Sheridan Rd., Unit 1415A, Editorial Advisor—Tom Mullaney Chicago, IL 60640, USA. Contributing Editors: Inquiries: [email protected] Philip Barcio, Chicago All Letters to the editor are printed. Send to: Rebecca Memoli, Chicago [email protected] Kelli Wood, Nashville 2 NEW ART EXAMINER Art Redistributed? —Introduction e have all been on a quite a journey together this past year. There seem to Whave been more downs than ups, but there has also been a lot of reflection and critical inquiry. The first edition we published after the pandemic began was the start of something. It represented the closer look we are all taking as a society, as a spe- cies, at what got us here and how we were, on the whole, both unprepared but very resilient. This most recent issue focuses on the economics of the art world and its impact on the culture around it. It feels like a third chapter in this ongoing story that we have been piecing together about what to do and how to do it. For years now, we at the New Art Examiner have taken a critical look at the top-down, profit-driven art economy. But as economic turmoil for the many is matched by rising wealth for the few, we are more conscious every day of the dis- parate societal impact of a broken and corrupt system. The times we live in call for re-invigorated attention and bold ideas that challenge the status quo. Though there is far more to be discussed, we are proud to present a collec- tion of writing that explores the culture of the art economy and the ways artists and communities are generating new platforms to disrupt the insular art world. K.A. Letts covers Essay'd, a democratized arts writing model emerging in Detroit, and reviews Latina artist Marianna Olague's solo show—also in Detroit. We get an inside look at the labor economy of the art world from a nameless witness to questionable employment practices. In addition, we hear from artists whose socially engaged practices are not only questioning existing economic models but also generating new ones that strive to help sustain communities during the pan- demic. Radical ideas would fall to pieces without a thread to tie them together. Author, curator, activist, and institution builder Nato Thompson has a provided just that with a critique of 21st century art culture and a call for dramatic change. We hope to carry this spirit of innovation and change into 2021 and that you continue with us on this journey. Happy New Year! Let’s make 2021 a year we can put our names on. Sincerely, The Editors 3 NEW ART EXAMINER SUBSCRIPTIONS QUARTER PAGE – portrait only $175 (includes free one-unit ad on web site) The New Art Examiner has a long history of EIGHTH PAGE – landscape $75 producing serious, independent art criticism. TWELFTH PAGE ‘Tweet’ $25 Subscription rates include four printed issues. All issues are available free online as PDFs. USA/Canada $55 postage incl. All rates are for “camera ready” art. Black and Rest of World $80 postage incl. white or color prices are the same. We can de- Please send checks, along with your name and sign your ad for an additional fee. Please email address, made payable to: us for details and rates. New Art Examiner *Rates subject to change without notice. 5555 N. Sheridan Rd., Unit 1415A Chicago, IL 60640. USA. Or log on to our website, newartexaminer.org, WEB ADS and use our PayPal button. A double web ad is free with the purchase of a full page ad. A single web ad is free with a ADVERTISING RATES 2020* half page and quarter page ad. Contact Michael FULL PAGE Inside front cover $500 Ramstedt at [email protected] for dimensions and other details. Inside back cover $450 Web ads may be purchased separately for $50 FULL PAGE $400 for a 190 x 190 pixel ad and $75 for a 190 x 380 (All full page ad rates include a double web ad) pixel ad. Web ads run for two months in con- HALF PAGE – portrait/landscape $250 junction with the print version of the magazine. (includes free one-unit ad on web site) NEW ART EXAMINER WANTED: STATEMENT OF PURPOSE WRITERS The New Art Examiner is a publication whose purpose is to examine the defini- The New Art Examiner is looking for writers tion and transmission of culture in our interested in the visual arts in any major society; the decision-making processes metropolitan area in the U.S. You would start with short reviews of exhibition in your within museums and schools and the area. Later, longer essays on contemporary agencies of patronage which determine visual art issues could be accepted. the manner in which culture shall be transmitted; the value systems which Please send a sample of your writing (no presently influence the making of art more than a few pages) to: as well as its study in exhibitions and Michel Ségard books; and, in particular, the interac- Editor in Chief tion of these factors with the visual art New Art Examiner milieu. [email protected] 4 NEW ART EXAMINER Money Moves for the Alternative Art World by Nato Thompson ike a cloud hovering above the for-the-most-part nose against the outside win- broke artists of the planet, money appears mysteri- dow, in the cold, slaving away Lous: a gaseous, hard-to-reach netherworld only ob- while muttering some mantra served at a distance: Sotheby's and Christie’s setting auc- that this is, in fact, a noble life tion records with gavels slamming down and bidders on calling. And while you may not phones representing clients of God-knows-where, art fairs be wrong, something is clearly hosting exclusive parties including guests from bad sit- not right. What’s all the more coms, hobnobbing one percenters in sandalwood-scented unbelievable is that this de- hotel lobbies, shimmering cars with doors opening coun- plorable, oppressive art world terintuitively, and other bling-like economic indicators.
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