Slog - Comments on Los Cojones de Doug Harvey http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/los_cojones_de_doug LA Weekly art critic Doug Harvey (a contributor to The Stranger) is not only a firebrand of a writer, he's an exhibiting artist, too. I'm having a hard time thinking of another contemporary critic working this combo. It used to happen more often, but these days, critics are academics and public intellectuals at best and half-hearted observers at worst. We're rarely experienced artists. (I'm certainly not.) I can't wait to read the reviews of Harvey's show, titled Great Expectorations. It's showing at High Energy Constructs in LA from Jan. 13 to Feb. 18. Here's an image (a detail from Bling)... Copyright 2008 Mon, 08 Jan 2007 12:30:22 -0800 Mon, 08 Jan 2007 14:23:08 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by kim wow. that's neat.

]]> kim http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/los_cojones_de_doug#c585447 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/los_cojones_de_doug#c585447 Arts Mon, 08 Jan 2007 12:59:07 -0800 Comment by Eric F I think I prefer my critic/painters like Ruskin--under no illusion that his painting was anything other than Sunday painting, though his draftsmanship served well enough to create illustrations for his books. I don't expect the excellent critic to be an excellent artist (that argument always bugged the crap out of me--the critic is a receiver, not a maker, and what does being, say, an excellent reader have in common with being an excellent writer? They're different abilities.)

But when a critic illustrates that distinction, by making mediocre or unexciting art, it does seem to (albeit unfairly) undercut their authority in their chosen field.

Perhaps it's better to work outside of your main field. Instead of James Wolcott's novel Catsitters, think film critic Manny Farber's serious sideline as a painter.

]]> Eric F http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/los_cojones_de_doug#c585518 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/los_cojones_de_doug#c585518 Arts Mon, 08 Jan 2007 14:23:08 -0800