By Mat Gleason
From Issue #71 of Coagula, December 2004
Dear Mat:?۬
Sometimes I read reviews and wonder what the critics are even talking about. I?€™m a college educated person. Should I be taking art criticism more seriously? Will a rave review by the right critic set up an artist for life? Who would those critics be? Are bad reviews the kiss of death? Let me know.
WELL,?۬
There are two types of art critics. Those who are desperate (despite all appearances to the contrary) to get invited to the right parties; and those who get invited to the right parties. How to tell who is who - if a critic is a teacher, a University lecturer, a professor of art history, especially if they say this about themselves in the little bio after each published essay - then this person is among the desperate group. If this person writes for an audience of more than 50,000 people whose income is above $100,000 and has been doing so for over 5 years, then this person is among the latter group. These are not absolute qualifications, but I use them to gage the worthlessness of the party banter that masquerades as reviews. Many art world reviews are paid for, often under the table. You pay a critic to write a catalog essay for you. The next few shows get reviewed. You help get a critic hired at your art school, next year he is making fifty grand and you are getting reviews. The TRUE power of the critic is revealed in his or her readers. Since most art writing is nefariously interlinked to personal relationships, you should ignore all of it, but do pay attention to where the critical mass is rising. When Matthew Barney started making waves, his name was everywhere, instantly - nobody has that many friends, especially Matthew Mumblemouth. I am not defending Barney?€™s status outside of his achievement of getting noticed.
There are two types of bad reviews. Those that pick on the powerless and those that pick on the powerful. Both work. One is merciless, the other is only practiced by those outside of both academia as well as the art establishment.
Oh, and bad reviews are not the kiss of death. Artists who get trashed by the same critic form a fraternity that can achieve strong bonds. Frankly, you can cut and paste a review to omit critical sentences. In fact, why not just paste up a fake review. A dingbat gallery would be impressed as all hell that you ahd a three hundred word review in the New York Times. a day of page layout tutorials could get you started. Who?€™s gonna pay the $11.95 fee to verify this with a Times internet search? Not your average cheapskate gallery dealer, that is for sure.
