Painting must not die

“Living Room,” 2008, drawn animation and wire, by Jeanne Verdoux.

Back in July, Roberta Smith wrote a review of a show at the Bronx Museum called "How Soon Is Now?" Apparently, unsuccessful conceptual art dominated the show. I like her advice to artists, which I think applies to collectors as well:

“How Soon Is Now?” suggests that there is no point in spending time on “professional development” or learning how to advance one’s work in the marketplace if artistic development is not well under way. That requires lots of long, hard looking at all kinds of art, in all mediums, from all periods and cultures. Aspiring artists need to expose themselves to the sheer intensity and variety of art, to learn what they love, what they hate and if they are actually artists at all. New York’s galleries and especially its great museums offer ample opportunity for this kind of self-education, which leads to self-knowledge. Anything is possible when artists set to work knowing they have something they urgently need to say, in a way it hasn’t quite been said before.

If you want to learn more about painting in the 21st century, you should attend a symposium at the Phillips on Saturday, September 27. More info here.