August 5, 2011
After over a year of research and writing, here it is, my essay on the largest mass execution in the United States, when 38 Dakota Indians were simultaneously hung on December 26, 1862, an event that my ancestor witnessed. Although he wrote extensively about his experiences fighting in the Dakota Conflict, in a voice that is personal and often witty, he relied on other accounts (from newspapers and official documents) to describe the execution. This essay, with multimedia components (audio and video), attempts to find out why he could not, or would not, put his own experience of the execution into words. Read it here.
July 21, 2011
Triple Canopy is having a launch party tonight for Issue 13, which includes my essay on the hanging at Mankato. That will go up at some point early next month; will keep you posted.
July 6, 2011
Another review in Time Out this week; read it here.
June 30, 2011
Tonight is my Triple Canopy presentation, a staged multimedia reading extravaganza! At 7:00 at Cabinet. For more info, click on this.
June 15, 2011
The latest, a review of "Nancy Grossman: Heads," at P.S. 1 in Time Out New York.
And the announcement for my upcoming Triple Canopy presentation is now live! See it here. More on this to follow.
May 19, 2011
Apologies for radio silence—I am slowly emerging from the haze of grading papers and clearing my desk in anticipation of a productive summer. I am one of the text editors on a great series of notebooks being published in conjunction with, and leading up to, dOCUMENTA (13). Bettina Funcke is overseeing the series, which is titled 100 Notizen – 100 Gedanken / 100 Notes – 100 Thoughts, and the first seventeen are already out (I edited an interview with Paul Ryan by Ayreen Anastas and Rene Gabri). The books are available for purchase here.
February 15, 2011
Another piece I wrote for Icon just came out, this one on Dan Graham's Pavilions. Here's a photo of the spread shot by Clayton Cubitt, which beautifully captures Graham's library.
November 17, 2010
Britain's Icon magazine just relaunched with a crisp new look and fresh editorial focus, thanks to the inimitable Christopher Turner (who was editor-in-chief at Modern Painters when I worked there). I profiled the artist Mary Mattingly, of Waterpod fame, for the new issue. Copies should be hitting US newsstands soon.
November 3, 2010
I reviewed "The Last Newspaper" at the New Museum for Time Out New York. Read it here.
October 31, 2010
Two releases this week, one analog and one virtual:
The online art and culture journal East of Borneo launched last week, and will be celebrating its debut in New York the evening of November 7th at Participant, Inc (253 East Houston Street). Read my article on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, here.
And I have an interview with Norman Lear, who produced Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, in the current issue of Esopus. If you've never bought Esopus, I can't recommend it highly enough—it's all the proof you'll need that print is far from being dead.
October 30, 2010
Today I am giving a talk at Dia:Beacon, at 2:00, on the artist Franz Erhard Walther. I'll be talking about his Werksatz (Work Set), 1963–69, a series of fabric pieces that require viewer interaction in order to be activated as art.
October 25, 2010
It's been two months since I last updated my site, so I have some catching up to do. Don't think I haven't been busy! Most of my time has been spent writing blurbs on this or that, but here are a few other reviews I wrote recently:
• "I Live My Thoughts," at Laurel Gitlen, reviewed in Time Out New York.
• Marcel Broodthaers at Marian Goodman and Michael Werner, also reviewed in Time Out New York.
• Lil Picard reviewed in Art in America.
• And, in the same issue, a review of Johannes Vanderbeek's last show at Zach Feuer.
That's not all: More "new releases" will be unveiled over the next few days.
July 21, 2010
A review of "Not Extractions, But Abstractions," at Clifton Benevento. In Time Out.
July 15, 2010
A review of Charlotte Posenenske at Artists Space in Time Out. Also, today SculptureCenter released the catalogue for "Knight's Move," which is available for purchase here.
July 7, 2010
A review in Time Out of Leslie Wayne's ultra-satisfying show at Jack Shainman, NY. (Added bonus: a 3D pic of one of the paintings!)
July 1, 2010
"Christian Marclay: Festival" opens today at the Whitney Museum of American Art. It's an exhibition of his experimental, Fluxus-inspired scores that will be performed live, in the galleries, by an impressive roster of musicians. I am editing the catalogue, which is taking the form of three magazines that will be issued during the exhibition. Issue 1 is available now—grab it while you can!
June 23, 2010
Today I bring you yet another review in Time Out, of the Barbara Bloom show at Tracy Williams, LTD.
June 10, 2010
My review of the Christian Boltanski show at the Park Avenue Armory. Along with the first online comment I've ever received in response to one of my reviews (at least to my knowledge).
June 6, 2010
A review in Art in America of Jimmy Raskin's show at Miguel Abreu.
May 21, 2010
Today Triple Canopy announced the recipients of their first round of commissions, one of whom is yours truly. Very proud to contribute to this amazing website, which just keeps getting better and better.
May 9, 2010
Andy Coolquitt opens his second solo exhibition at Lisa Cooley Fine Art on Orchard Street today (it's up through June 27). I wrote an essay on his work for a lovely catalogue published by the gallery that will be available in July. It's an excellent show—go see it.
May 2, 2010
"Knight's Move," an exciting group show with a focus on artists based in New York, opens at SculptureCenter, Long Island City today. I wrote five entries on individual artists for the catalogue, which is forthcoming this summer, and had a hand in its editing.
April 1, 2010
The latest: A review of PROW in the April issue of Artforum.
March 24, 2010
My first podcast! Now on BOMB's website! Listen here.
March 17, 2010
The latest: A review in Time Out New York of Jessica Jackson Hutchins, who has two shows up now, at Derek Eller and Laurel Gitlen (not to mention a nice piece in the Whitney Biennial).
March 9, 2010
The latest: A review of Lars Laumann at Foxy Production in Time Out New York.
February 19, 2010
Remember a few months ago when I went to LA to do a residency with a very cool website whose name I could not then reveal? Well, here it is. Or at least a slideshow previewing what it will be. (I think the official launch is scheduled to happen in April, but you can sign up on their website for updates to stay informed.) Thanks to Stacey Allan and Thomas Lawson for hosting me, and for raising the bar for web journalism!
February 15, 2010
The latest: an essay in Afterall. Click here to read.
February 6, 2010
On Friday, February 12, I'll be in Chicago at the CAA conference participating in a panel titled "Studio Practice and Poststudio Production: Reconsidering the Roles of Artist and Curator," co-chaired by Hilary Wilder and Michelle White. (For more info, click here.)
My talk, "Skyscrapers by the Roots," will focus on work by Julia Christensen as well as other artists whose practices target problems in architecture and urbanism and in general defy easy categorization. Julia is the author of the book Big Box Reuse, published by MIT Press in 2008. I met with Julia in Cleveland in April and she generously took a day off to show me around. Here is an audio interview with her as she walked me through HGR Surplus, the subject of her most recent work, Surplus Rising. HGR is a huge store (as in twelve acres) filled with used factory equipment. Julia called it a "graveyard for the rust belt," a description that seemed poignantly apt, since Cleveland was hit particularly hard by last year's recession.
Play mp3 (Length: 5:45)
February 2, 2010
The latest: A review in Time Out New York. Eddie Martinez at ZieherSmith.
I hope to have my blog up and running again soon, too, so stay tuned!
claire(dot)barliant[at]gmail(dot)com
Marcel Duchamp, cover of Minotaure, 1934