The Desk Dispatch
April 4, 2024
Spring has sprung and it’s leaking all over the place. A true spring gets plenty of leaves and flowers only after torrential rains. But a little torrent never stopped the artfully intrepid. Here are a few recommended exhibitions for them.
Lower East BITFORMS 131 Allen Street: Auriea Harvey | April 4 to May 25
Noho MARINARO, 678 Broadway, 3rd Floor: Cait Porter | ends May 4
Tribeca 47 CANAL Michael Marman | ends April 27
Tribeca KLAUS VON NICHTSSAGEND 87 Franklin Street: Joy Curtis + Nancy Brooks Brody | April 5 to May 11 **Highly Recommended**
Upper East SPANIERMAN MODERN 958 Madison Avenue (75/76 Sts): Erin Parish | April 4 to May 4 Opening Today
Upper East KRISTEN LORELLO 23 E 73rd St, 5th Floor: Chenlu Hou | ends April 20
Long Island BAYARD CUTTING ARBORETUM 440 Montauk Highway, Great River, NY: Lori Horowitz | April 4-April 28 (Reception: April 7, 1-4 pm) **Highly Recommended**
What’s new with The Other Side of the Desk? Lots of changes. I keep adding new sections or tweaking the names of them. It’s one thing to write a certain kind of article now and then. But to write an entire series, it becomes necessary to give that series a name, and a proper name is sometimes hard to come by. For a series of articles recounting past exhibitions which, for whatever reason, I never responded critically, or never finished the review I wanted to write, this series was at one time called “Second Thoughts” and then became “Art Moments”. Now it’s called “Retrospection” to give the act of memory in the context of an aesthetic event its due. Because everything we see of art from our earliest experiences in childhood until recently is of equal importance. Memory shapes our recollections, and we grapple with who we were at the time we first took in that aesthetic event as well as the particulars themselves. Looking back is not mere recollection, it’s also reinvention. For this series I will be considering both gallery and museum exhibitions.
Another new section is for books, it’s called “Shelf Life” because it concerns any book from my collection, no matter the genre or subject matter, that is not longer a new book. Which is not to say it’s no longer worth discussing, but the concept of a review is generally meant only for new books. Various titles are in consideration, including novels, memoirs and biographies, poetry collections, etc. Anything that’s ever meant anything to me as a writer. Look for one soon on the memoir “Istanbul: Memories and the City” by Orhan Pamuk and “The Banquet Years: The Origins of the Avant-Garde in France” by Roger Shattuck
Another section in development was a blog of the same name from a few years ago. “Studio Journal” is exactly what it sounds like. My visits with artists in their studios and my reflections on the experience after the fact. I did three previous posts on Janice Caswell, Keiko Narahashi, and Dean Monogenis. The next installment will on the painter Becky Yazdan.
Last of all, a section that was launched only last month, called “Monograph” for which I will be writing extended posts on a single artist, moving gradually through their creative development as an artist, presenting an in-depth focus upon specific elements of creative discipline. Currently writing about the photographer Nolan Preece. This month I will post the second of three parts on his work and life.
That’s it for now. Enjoy the exhibitions when you’re out and about and my Substack posts when you’re inside or anytime when you want to read great writing on the art and books of our time. Consider upgrading to a paid subscription, which in the long run, will help me to do more with my writing, monthly subscriptions are $8.50 and annual ones are $102. You can also make a group subscription or an anonymous gift subscription. Take your pick. Here’s the link.
I am a freelance writer in the arts. I’ve written essays for exhibition catalogs, text for web sites, grant and residency applications, and have provided critical thinking in matters of portfolio development, studio practice, and professional etiquette. If you need any of these services, or know someone who does, please contact me at davidgibsonwriting@gmail.com
Yours
David Gibson