Jerry Saltz spoke to a sold out crowd at the Art and Culture Center of Hollywood last Saturday evening.

The Senior Art Critic for New York Magazine, is a three time Pulitzer finalist, author and most recently a Judge on the Bravo reality television show “Work of Art”.  He was the third speaker in the much anticipated “Hot Topics” series of lectures by leading figures in the contemporary visual arts.

Speaking in the main gallery of the Arts and Culture Center where the  exhibition “Artist Unknown / The free world” is currently on view, Saltz gave a nod to the exhibition’s artists John D. Monteith & Oliver Wasow. Their presentation of over 800 prints and thousands of video stills  was created from random images culled from the internet, cataloged and presented in this exhibition and it’s accompanying book.  Saltz contributed text to the exhibition’s book alongside text by photographic curator and writer Marvin Heiferman and Art and Culture Center gallery curator Jane Hart.

Just one week after the hurly-burly of Art Basel Miami Beach, Saltz spoke in his quick-witted and entertaining manner on the state of contemporary art today, it’s artists, art fairs and collectors, having fun with local collectors Debra and Dennis Scholl as he caught them  slipping in late.  He likened his role as art critic, to a receiver interpreting the art objects being transmitted by artists.  On his role as a judge on the Bravo series “work of art” he said he does this out of a desire to be more connected to the outside world and to make art more accessible to the public.

Saltz is well known for his populist support of the struggling artist giving them a platform for dialog through his highly trafficked Facebook page which is read daily by serious-minded artists, curators, gallerists and a quirky lot of art world dwellers. He closed the evening by speaking directly to the artists in the room.

Empathizing with their struggles and bowing to their dedication, Saltz donned the cape of  “Artist’s Prophet” challenging the many artists present to stretch their imaginations, work harder, “get out of your own way” and make more art, make bad art and make more bad art until it is good.  Quoting Beckett, Saltz said “Ever tried. Ever Failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”  It was an inspirational sermon and left many in the room eager to get back to their studios and make better art.  Now lets see if it works.

• ABMB: Categorized
• The 99% Occupied Miami
• Seven: Slideshow
• NADA: Slideshow
• Art Miami 2011: Slideshow
• Miami Fairs Day 3
• Pulse, smoke and mirrors

 Tickets for the Jerry Saltz “Hot topics”  discussion series at the Hollywood Art and Culture Center have  SOLD OUT !  

Jerry Saltz is the Senior Art Critic for New York Magazine and a judge on the Bravo television show Work of Art. He is a three-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and in 2006 was named “Best Art Critic” by Time Out New York for his work at the Village Voice, where he wrote from 1998 – 2007.

Tickets for this discussion are sold out but you still have a chance to attend discussions with…………

Dan Cameron founder and artistic director of Prospect New Orleans 

and view a screening of “Swamp Cabbage” with film makers Haley Downs and Julie Lara Kahn.

Visit the Art and Culture Center of Hollywood website for more information.

Just a few of the trends that my brain picked up on:

Kids with guns………….

  

  

      

      

            

      

            

  

  

 

    

              

As Lindemann points out in his rant in the New York Observer “it’s the real art collectors who are paying for these parties by buying expensive art works from the galleries: it’s our money that is underwriting all this insanity.”

Well I say thanks to you all. Art Basel Miami Beach may have brought in more private aircraft than the super bowl but a majority of visitors were made up of the middle class.

While the main event was pricey at $40.00 a ticket, taking the whole family may not have been an option but thanks to the many satellite fairs and art galleries that offer less expensive and free options even the 99% had an opportunity to enjoy looking at new art.

So I say thanks to NADA and Seven, top notch fairs that didn’t charge an entrance fee.

Thanks to the Rubells who opened up their collection free to the public and topped it off with a cup off coffee and a chance to participate in  Jennifer Rubell’s performance art “Incubation”  which included attempting to top off your yogurt with free falling honey.

Zhang Huan photo courtesy ABMB/Blum&Poe

Art Video Nights photo courtesy ABMB

Thanks to the Art Basel organization and the Bass Museum for the outdoor sculpture garden and performances in Collins park.

Thanks to the Art Basel organization and London’s Artprojx for Art Video nights, video screenings on the outdoor projection wall at the  New World Center.

Thanks to Miami art patron Deborah Shelton-Tynes for coming to the aid of the 99% Pool art fair artists.

Thanks for Wynwood which is home to the Wynwood Walls project and the many satellite fairs and art galleries that brought out special exhibitions.

Thanks for the food trucks that allowed the 99% to hob nob and dine on latin fare and cool drinks.

Art Basel Miami Beach may have spawned a record number of champagne cocktails for the schmoozers and boozers but there was also a whole lot of affordable fun for the 99%

The seven dealers walk around the space conversing with viewers and helping each other to sell their work.

Key works from each gallery are given prominent positions in the space and the salon wall is a beautiful collection of smaller works by all the artists represented by the galleries.

Touted as one of the “Best fairs outside of the big show” by the Boyd Level Essential Map And Guide for Art Basel Miami Beach, the fair flowed through three banquet halls at the Deauville, with a few lucky booths facing floor to ceiling windows that gave way to a spectacular Atlantic ocean view.

Some 100 galleries, the majority coming from New York leaned toward presenting a broad overview of their represented artists with many works in the affordable range.

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