If public holidays could make pronouncements, “Après moi, le deluge” is an adage of the Sun King’s that can equally be uttered by Labor Day, the signal in American of the end of summer and the launch, in the world of New York and other cities’ commercial art galleries, of a new season.
The pent-up energy of artists and collectors returning from the introversions of summer, whether lounging in one’s Hamptons’ estate or sweating in the purdah of a Bushwick studio, is felt on the streets of Chelsea and the Lower East Side as the months of group shows or gallery repairs give way in two frantic weeks of solo exhibition openings.
artcritical’s staff and regulars clubbed together ahead of the holiday to present TIPS, a new feature in which, collectively or individually, our regulars will select their personal hot lists of shows about to open. TIPS complements our comprehensive listings of shows on view in greater New York as well as lectures and panels. Another new feature launched this month is our column, Bookmarked, in which guests share with us the blogs and art sites that claim their browser time. Painter George Hofmann launched this feature.
So, for artcritical, it is down to business. This month sees David Carrier on Per Kirkeby at Michael Werner, Greg Lindquist on Loren Munk at Lesley Heller, Jonathan Goodman on Gabriel Orozco at Marian Goodman, and Maddie Phinney on Cory Arcangel at the Whitney, while Patricia Milder has been to a Noémie Lafrance’s performance at Black & White while David Cohen reflects on the debut of Haunch of Venison in their new Chelsea space. Books on avant garde art in China and Cuba come in for review from David Carrier and Rodney Palmer, respectively.
Optimism at a new season doesn’t preclude remembrance of things past. We offer a pair of articles on the summer’s Alexander McQueen blockbuster at the Met – an essay by Adele Tutter that pairs McQueen and the photographer Francesca Woodman, and Rebecca Park offers a critique of the Met’s handling of the designer’s attitude towards women. And whatever the season, fate claims fine individuals as we mourn the loss of painters Susan Shatter and Stephen Mueller in our Tributes section and add a personal essay on Leo Steinberg by Ellen Handler Spitz to complement the obituaries we carried earlier in the year.
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