“Haim Steinbach”, Artforum

Here’s the Artforum review on Haim Steinbach. It’s all wrong. The work is not about consumerism, it’s about seeing and context. It’s about place and rhythm and language and form, that’s why the objects he uses are virtually worthless, it’s not about consumption. Haim Steinbach
10.06.11
SARAH LOOKOFSKY
Artforum 09.08.11-10.22.11 Tanya Bonakdar Gallery The Kong is the most represented object in the latest iterations of Haim Steinbach’s signature shelf assemblages.… Read more
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Help, please. My wife says that my taste in art is too passé, and that hanging works from artists who are dead is just not cool or interesting. I am looking to spend around $1.5m for 3-5 works, but refuse to buy works at any Madison Ave. Gallery. Which artists would you suggest looking at and why? BTW, I love video art, but displaying it is a bitch, and photography scares me re: its appreciation potential due to multiples. Justifying valuations, I find challenging, even with artnet… I’m always skeptical that auction pricing is manipulated by collectors and dealers. So, please, let’s focus, if possible, on painting and/or sculpture.Thanks for the help!

Wow… that’s a tall order- you are saying you want a different art world than the one you’re in. Fear not! There are plenty of galleries who specialize in artists with little or no auction traction, and little or no secondary market. Take David Zwirner’s roster, or Brent Sikkema’s, or you can try the programs of Gavin Brown and Michelle Maccarone. Focus more on the art and less on the… Read more
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I understand your reasoning on the de Kooning retrospective, but look at it this way… What MoMA does is more relevant to the thousands visiting from abroad than to the art professionals living in New York. I had a similar feeling when I visited the Istanbul Biennial. It looked like a well-curated academic exercise for curators, museum directors, art professionals visiting Istanbul, but what about the public living in Istanbul?

Thank you Mr. Kocabiyik, and your point is well taken. Indeed a complete de Kooning blockbuster will bring in lots of people from abroad, and sell lots of tickets, but for those who know the work, albeit imperfectly, it doesn’t provide an experience that enhances the viewer’s understanding of this artist in history, it merely delivers him as gospel. In visiting the Istanbul Biennial, thanks to your generosity, I also… Read more
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Too Big, Too Late, Too Bad.

Thank you Mr. Monrow, Indeed the De Kooning show is big and not particularly timely, I assume “too bad” refers to the regret that those resources may have been put to better use, in which case we are in agreement. There’s a silent museum crisis happening in NY, one that people don’t want to talk about- but you’re a big guy, and you stay out late, all good in this… Read more
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Do I Need to See a $4 Billion Willem de Kooning Show?

It sounds terrible but I really didn’t like the de Kooning show. Perhaps one shouldn’t admit to such a thing in public, and yet I feel someone has to come forward and say it, and then try to explain it. Art is a visual experience, so words often fall short, but in this case I won’t mince mine, because the show is 90 percent predictable and formulaic. Today it is… Read more
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Mr. Lindemann, Last week I attended the kick-off dinner in Bel Air for Pacific Standard Time: Art in LA 1945-1980 (the collaboration of 60 museums from San Diego to Santa Barbara, for those on your site who are unfamiliar). Could you generally opine on this art scene and, more specifically, let me know which ONE LA artist you would add to your collection, if given the opportunity and, more importantly, why? As an aside, I enjoyed your “art meets hotel” repartee with Mr. Perry, but would suggest that not all Aman hotels grow tired. Next summer, instead of Il Pelicano, give the Amanjiwa a spin.

Thank you Laurey, I’m really happy Pacific Standard Time looks like a hit. LA artists, there are so many great ones. I guess you mean young-ish… The top painters in LA right now (excluding the old dudes) are Mark Bradford and Mark Grotjahn – those are the ones to covet at this point- if you want painting. Look them up, get what you can.There are a lot of artists coming… Read more
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There are contemporary art hotels and there are contemporary design hotels… you are an expert on contemporary art and contemporary design, so when are you going to open a contemporary art + design hotel? Maybe, you don’t like art hotels and design hotels. What is your favorite hotel?

Dear Mr.Perry, Art+Design hotels are usually done on thin budgets. I can’t think of any done particularly well, though I liked the bar Julian Schnabel did for the Gramercy Park Hotel in NY. I love the Hotel Splendido in Portofino, and I’m a fan of the Ritz in Paris, but I’m totally over the Costes. I guess I like old hotels like the Pellicano in Porto Ercole. I don’t like… Read more
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I appreciate your writings on the art market which are always full of invaluable insight. My question is the following: if you had an opportunity to buy a work you love and have been chasing for some years, the owner being willing to sell after saying no for a long time, but demanding a price that is about 40% above market price, would you go ahead or walk away, even if the artist’s dealer had advised you to walk away because of the price?

Dear Claude, If you always wanted it, and you have the money, buy it! If you are thinking in terms of investment, it all depends if this artist’s market is on the way up, or down, or nowhere. Often an artist’s best (most famous) works are never available on the market, and that market may be on the up and up, then, 40% could be a good deal. Typically the… Read more
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