Flash Points

Flash Points

Extimasies: Art, Politics, Society in Times of Crisis

by Georgia Kotretsos | Jan 30, 2009

Flash Points

Extimasies: Art, Politics, Society in Times of Crisis

by Georgia Kotretsos | Jan 30, 2009

The Extimasies: Art, Politics, Society in Times of Crisis symposium recently took place on Saturday, January 10 at the Benaki Musuem on Pireos Street in Athens, Greece. Co-organized by Costis …

Flash Points

Art21 Extended Play

Jenny Holzer | Programming

by Wesley Miller | Jan 29, 2009

Flash Points

Art21 Extended Play

Jenny Holzer | Programming

by Wesley Miller | Jan 29, 2009

EXCLUSIVE: Jenny Holzer discusses the programming of her LED sculptures during the installation of the exhibition PROTECT PROTECT at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. Featured works include MONUMENT (2008), …

Flash Points

Obama Special, Part 1

by Daniel Quiles | Jan 26, 2009

Flash Points

Obama Special, Part 1

by Daniel Quiles | Jan 26, 2009

What follows is just a bit late for the inauguration, which is appropriate. It is essentially old news. Let’s start with the “Flash Points” question of the week: how can …

Flash Points

Letter from London

Letter From London: Dissent (of a Woman)

by Ben Street | Jan 26, 2009

Flash Points

Letter from London

Letter From London: Dissent (of a Woman)

by Ben Street | Jan 26, 2009

After the assassination of JFK in 1963, Lenny Bruce said, “They put two graves in Arlington—one for John Kennedy and one for Vaughn Meader.” Meader was a pitch-perfect Kennedy impersonator …

Art21 Extended Play

Jenny Holzer | Writing & Difficulty

by Wesley Miller | Jan 23, 2009

Art21 Extended Play

Jenny Holzer | Writing & Difficulty

by Wesley Miller | Jan 23, 2009

EXCLUSIVE: Jenny Holzer discusses her difficult relationship to writing during the installation of the exhibition PROTECT PROTECT at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. Featured works include Red Yellow Looming …

Flash Points

A Fairey Tale

by Tavia Nyong'o | Jan 22, 2009

Flash Points

A Fairey Tale

by Tavia Nyong'o | Jan 22, 2009

[youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_EOzZ9iaJQ] The German-Jewish philosopher Walter Benjamin concludes his 1935 essay on “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” with a dialectical challenge. He called on would-be art …

Flash Points

Art and Politics: An Introduction

by Marc Mayer | Jan 21, 2009

Flash Points

Art and Politics: An Introduction

by Marc Mayer | Jan 21, 2009

FLASH POINTS is a regular conversational series that focuses on issues relevant to the state of the art world at large, contemporary art education, and issues artists face today. You …

Flash Points

The shock of the unseen.

by C-Monster | Jan 16, 2009

Flash Points

The shock of the unseen.

by C-Monster | Jan 16, 2009

“Looking eternity in the eye.” (All photos by Luodanli.) Almost four years ago, in the course of my web wanderings, I stumbled on the photographs of an Army serviceman  who …

Flash Points

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Interview with Eleanor Antin Part 2

by Joe Fusaro | Jan 15, 2009

Flash Points

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Interview with Eleanor Antin Part 2

by Joe Fusaro | Jan 15, 2009

 Following is the second part of my conversation with Eleanor Antin, continued from Part 1 yesterday… JF: One thing that has been important in my own work with students and …

Flash Points

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Myths, metaphors, and more: Interview with Eleanor Antin, Part 1

by Joe Fusaro | Jan 14, 2009

Flash Points

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Myths, metaphors, and more: Interview with Eleanor Antin, Part 1

by Joe Fusaro | Jan 14, 2009

Last month I had the good fortune to speak with Eleanor Antin (Season 2) in a series of lively and engaging emails that included her thoughts on preparing for exhibitions, …

Flash Points

Teaching with controversial subject matter

by Marc Mayer | Jan 12, 2009

Flash Points

Teaching with controversial subject matter

by Marc Mayer | Jan 12, 2009

On the topic of art and controversy, I thought I’d share a teaching-related story of my own. Previously to working at Art21, I was an associate educator at the New …

Flash Points

Using contemporary art to help open conversations

by Carolyn Sutton | Jan 8, 2009

Flash Points

Using contemporary art to help open conversations

by Carolyn Sutton | Jan 8, 2009

What’s the place of contemporary art in schools?  What’s the place of “controversial” contemporary art in schools? And what’s our responsibility as teachers? The very best contemporary art speaks a …

Flash Points

Found Art: 10 Ways to Die of Electric Shock

by C-Monster | Dec 31, 2008

Flash Points

Found Art: 10 Ways to Die of Electric Shock

by C-Monster | Dec 31, 2008

Disaffected hipster meets his maker. All images courtesy of Bre Pettis. Since we’re talking “shock” here at Art21, I decided to plug the word into Flickr to see what it’d …

Flash Points

Letter from London

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Art21 Extended Play

Best of the Art21 Blog, 2008 edition

by Kelly Shindler | Dec 23, 2008

Flash Points

Letter from London

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Art21 Extended Play

Best of the Art21 Blog, 2008 edition

by Kelly Shindler | Dec 23, 2008

With our blog’s redesign in February, we hoped to see the site take off this year with a slew of new features. Following are some of our favorites, all of …

Flash Points

Crying Wolf

by Catherine Wagley | Dec 23, 2008

Flash Points

Crying Wolf

by Catherine Wagley | Dec 23, 2008

Here’s one of the biggest problem with controversy in contemporary art: once it sparks, people stop really looking. I didn’t see UCLA’s Wight Biennial this year. LA Times critic Christopher …

Flash Points

Difficulty, Part 2: Bad Feelings

by Jennifer Doyle | Dec 22, 2008

Flash Points

Difficulty, Part 2: Bad Feelings

by Jennifer Doyle | Dec 22, 2008

Chris Ofili, Holy Virgin Mary (1996) I started thinking about the word “difficulty” in relation to controversial art because the things in art which grab me, even shock me, rarely …

Flash Points

Difficulty, Part 1: Deceptive Forms of Simplicity

by Jennifer Doyle | Dec 19, 2008

Flash Points

Difficulty, Part 1: Deceptive Forms of Simplicity

by Jennifer Doyle | Dec 19, 2008

What if, instead of talking about what makes an artwork controversial, we focused on what makes an artwork difficult? Difficulty has long functioned as a keyword in poetics and music …

Flash Points

I wanna shock.

by C-Monster | Dec 18, 2008

Flash Points

I wanna shock.

by C-Monster | Dec 18, 2008

Dirt Mansion, an installation by Judith Supine at English Kills Gallery in Brooklyn, April, 2008. (Photo by C-M.) In a move that undoubtedly goes against somebody’s better judgment, the respectable …

Flash Points

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Teaching with Controversial Material: “Bodies”

by Joe Fusaro | Dec 17, 2008

Flash Points

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Teaching with Controversial Material: “Bodies”

by Joe Fusaro | Dec 17, 2008

Illustration by Natasha Russel, Senior, Nyack High School Just a few weeks ago, a colleague and I had the opportunity to take three Advanced Placement Studio Art classes to see …

Flash Points

Top Billing at the Guggenheim

by Trong Gia Nguyen | Dec 16, 2008

Flash Points

Top Billing at the Guggenheim

by Trong Gia Nguyen | Dec 16, 2008

I’ve been reading a few reviews of the Guggenheim’s anyspacewhatsoever exhibition recently, including Merrily Kerr‘s insightful take a few days ago. Coupled with the launch of Flash Points and its …

Flash Points

Sweet Jesus! Shock, awe, and the mundane

by Marc Mayer | Dec 11, 2008

Flash Points

Sweet Jesus! Shock, awe, and the mundane

by Marc Mayer | Dec 11, 2008

As readers’ comments suggest in the introductory post of Flash Points, contemporary art that engages religion is a hotbed for controversy. James Horn remarks, “I have seen pictures which have …

Flash Points

Blood Work & ‘Art Criminals’

by Jennifer Doyle | Dec 10, 2008

Flash Points

Blood Work & ‘Art Criminals’

by Jennifer Doyle | Dec 10, 2008

I am not sure I would call artists like Jeff Koons, Vanessa Beecroft, Santiago Sierra, or even Kara Walker all that “controversial.” These artists are actually quite popular with curators. …

Flash Points

Letter from London

Letter from London: Fifteenth Time Leckey!

by Ben Street | Dec 5, 2008

Flash Points

Letter from London

Letter from London: Fifteenth Time Leckey!

by Ben Street | Dec 5, 2008

On Monday night, the winner of this year’s Turner Prize was announced—the fifteenth since its inception in 1984. The prize itself has become synonymous with a sort of willful controversy, …

Flash Points

Self-consciousness around controversial issues

by Jessica Hamlin | Dec 4, 2008

Flash Points

Self-consciousness around controversial issues

by Jessica Hamlin | Dec 4, 2008

Jenny Holzer, WHITE, 2006. Nichia white LED’s mounted on PCB with aluminum housing, 192 1/4 x 216 5/8 x 5 3/8 inches. Installation view: Cheim & Read, New York. © …

Flash Points

Introducing Flash Points: Controversy & Contemporary Art

by Kelly Shindler | Dec 1, 2008

Flash Points

Introducing Flash Points: Controversy & Contemporary Art

by Kelly Shindler | Dec 1, 2008

FLASH POINTS is a monthly conversational series that focuses on issues relevant to the state of the art world at large, contemporary art education, and issues artists face today. You …