ART News:TAOS ― Taos Fall Arts Festival “Art & Words: Critical Thinking and Writing About Art,” a two-day, multi-venue symposium set for Sept. 27- 28.
The program is a collaboration of Taos Fall Arts Festival, The Magazine, The Harwood Museum of Art and SOMOS.
The symposium begins at 7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 27, with a keynote talk, “My Life in Art Criticism,” by Peter Plagens at Harwood Museum of Art.
Plagens is an American artist and art critic based in New York City. He is the former art critic for Newsweek and writes regularly for The Wall Street Journal. He’s also a dedicated painter, known for large abstractions which have been regularly shown over a five-decade career (he recently had a solo at Texas Gallery in Houston, Texas).
Plagens has written three books about art: The True Artist, a monograph about Bruce Nauman (2014); Moonlight Blues: An Artist’s Art Criticism (1986); and Sunshine Muse: Modern Art on the West Coast (1945-70). He is also the author of two novels, The Art Critic (2008) and Time for Robo (1999).
Two panels and a youth writing workshop is offered Saturday, Sept. 28. At 10 a.m. a panel discussion: “Artists Writing: Blogging, Promotion and Documentation” will be held at SOMOS Salon and Bookshop. Panelists include THE magazine publisher Lauren Tresp, Taos News Tempo Editor Rick Romancito and art-tour guide Elaine Ritchel. The panel moderator is Janet Webb.
At 2 p.m., Saturday, the panel discussion, “The Evolution of Art Criticism” is held at Harwood Museum of Art. Panelists include Peter Plagens, Laurie Fendrich, Lucy Lippard and Garth Clark, with moderator Ann Landi of Vasari 21.com.
“I’m looking forward to a lively discussion on the state of contemporary art criticism: Are art critics necessary? How has criticism evolved in the past few decades? How does it impact artists and the market?,” Landi said.
A Youth Writing Workshop with Krystal Cretercos will be offered 1- 2 p.m. at SOMOS. Students will complete written observations after visiting the Agnes Martin Gallery at The Harwood Museum of Art.
The two-day symposium has been curated by Paul Figueroa and Ann Landi and is free and open to the public. Reservations are recommended as seating for all events is limited. Refer to taosfallarts.com for reservation process.
This program of the Taos Fall Arts Festival is made possible through funding from the Martin Foundation for the Creative Arts, NM Arts, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, New Mexico, the NEA, Taos County Lodgers Tax Fund Grant and the Taos Community Foundation. The Taos Fall Arts Festival is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the celebration of artistic expression in all of its forms. The Festival offers exhibits, performances, and other art-related events that give artists in Northern New Mexico the opportunity to share their work with the general public. Visit www.taosfallarts.com for additional information.
At a Glance
45th Annual Taos Fall Arts Festival – Sept. 20-29, 2019
Taos Open exhibition in Our Lady of Guadalupe Gym is open daily, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Arts & Words Symposium – Sept. 27-28
Keynote with Peter Plagens
Harwood Museum of Art, 238 Ledoux Street
Friday, Sept. 27, 7 p.m.
Panel discussion: Artists Writing About Their Art
Lauren Tresp, Rick Romancito, Elaine Ritchel
SOMOS Salon and Bookshop, 108 Civic Plaza Drive
Saturday, Sept. 28, 10 a.m.
Youth Writing Workshop
Krystal Cretercos
SOMOS Salon and Bookshop, 108 Civic Plaza Drive
Saturday, Sept. 28, 1 p.m.
Panel discussion: The Evolution of Art Criticism
Ann Landi with Peter Plagens, Laurie Fendrich, Lucy Lippard and Garth Clark
Harwood Museum of Art, 238 Ledoux Street
Saturday, Sept. 28, 2 p.m.
See all Taos art events during Taos Arts Festival at taosartscouncil.org
ART & WORDS: A two-day symposium focused on “Critical Thinking and Writing About Art” September 27 and 28, 2019, Taos, New Mexico
PARTICIPANTS
Peter Plagens is an American artist, art critic, and novelist based in New York City. He is most widely known for his longstanding contributions to Artforum and Newsweek (senior writer and art critic, 1989–2003), and for what critics have called a remarkably consistent, five-decade-long body of abstract formalist painting. He recently had a solo at Texas Gallery in Houston, TX. Plagens has written three books on art, Bruce Nauman: The True Artist (2014), Moonlight Blues: An Artist’s Art Criticism (1986) and Sunshine Muse: Modern Art on the West Coast, 1945-70 (1974), and two novels, The Art Critic (2008) and Time for Robo (1999).
Learn more: http://peterplagens.com and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Plagens
Laurie Fendrich is an American artist, writer and educator based in New York City, best known for geometric abstract paintings that balance playfulness and sophistication. Her work has been featured in solo exhibitions in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. She has been an educator for more than four decades, notably at Hofstra University (1989–2014), and a regular essayist for The Chronicle Review at The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Lucy Lippard is an American writer, art critic, activist and curator. Lippard was an early champion of feminist art. She is the author of 21 books on contemporary art and has received numerous awards and accolades from literary critics and art associations. Lippard is the curator of “Alicia Stewart: Unfinished . . .,” currently on exhibit at the Harwood Museum of Art. She lives in Galisteo, New Mexico.
Garth Clark is an art critic, art historian, curator, gallerist, and art dealer from Pretoria, South Africa. Clark is a writer and commentator on modern and contemporary ceramic art and a critic of the craft movement. For twenty-seven years, Clark and his partner Mark Del Vecchio owned and operated Garth Clark Gallery in New York City, with other locations across the country and the world. Clark currently lives in Santa Fe where he is Editor-in-Chief of CFile Foundation’s online journal and publishing projects.
Ann Landi (moderator) been a contributing editor of ARTnews for 25 years and has written for numerous other publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Smithsonian, and The New York Times. She is the founder and editor of Vasari21.com, a website for working artists.
