Posts Tagged ‘Art History’

Why the Boston MLK memorial misses the mark

Art and politics simply do not mix, and attempts to force them together reduce the efficacy of both.

The “Boho Dance” goes on

Exactly one year ago Christie’s procured a sale of a non-fungible token for an eye-watering sum of US$69,346,250. Since then, my friend and former colleague Professor David Hawkes and I have co-authored a series of articles on the subject of NFTs: their relationship to other currencies, their lack of aura, and their use for art […]

In Memory of Wayne Thiebaud

My tribute to the great Wayne Thiebaud is out in the February issue of The New Criterion—a magazine he had subscribed to for decades. I had the privilege of working with Wayne for the past few years, so the text below contains my insights into this man of impeccable integrity, strong will, and unwavering dedication […]

In memory of Dave Hickey

I wrote this piece following Dave’s passing November 12, 2021. It was published in the January 2022 issue of The New Criterion magazine. Click on the image to read the full text. I met Dave in 2012, and three years later we embarked on a project based on his Facebook writings. The result was two […]

Damien Hirst, art history and crypto art

Our third essay on crypto art (co-authored with David Hawkes). The first one “The Marriage of Art & Money” dealt with the financial nature of the digital art NFTs, while the second “The Afterlife of the Aura” took up the thorny subject of materiality in contemporary art. This article explores the significance of Damien Hirst’s […]

Icons of happiness

An upcoming Christie’s sale of a stunning Vincent Van Gogh drawing led me to contemplate Dave Hickey’s two decades-old predictions about the danger of shifting our collective gaze from the “beautiful object” to the “rhetoric of virtue.” All, because of a silly headline on CNN.style.com. Click on the image below to read the full article.

“Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal & Greed”

On August 25th the Netflix premiered a new documentary about Bob Ross directed by Joshua Rofé. I was interviewed for it in January of 2020. My participation in the feature came out of a 2018 The New Criterion article I wrote about America’s greatest “television artist.” To read full article click on the image below. […]