Art critics can often be intimidating people who have the ability to determine what gallery you go to and why you should or should not enjoy it. Their opinions can dictate the career of newly discovered artists and their journals and essays live on to be some of the most influential writings on the art world, for example the highly opinionated yet persuasive essays of Clement Greenberg. So for a group of people who hold such power, why do we listen to them and why are they given the ability to make or break a career? These questions were answered after visiting the highly regarded blog, art.blogging.la.

abLA, as it is called on the website, was ranked as the top art blog in 2004 by Art in America and included in Forbes Magazine’s best of the web in 2005. It is written by Caryn Coleman who is a well known art critic as well as a successful gallery owner. While she is the founder of the blog as well as its main author, there are a few other contributors ranging from guerilla artists, to novelists. Their posts are mainly critiques on gallery openings and what artists are currently showing, but their knowledge of these artists and galleries is apparent throughout the entire website, as seen in their ability to reference the works of an artist throughout their career. abLA also focuses on gallery and museum openings worldwide, like the Tate museum in London, but does a great job of highlighting Los Angeles events and galleries that happen to have multiple locations, like the ever apparent Gagosian Gallery, located in Los Angeles, New York, London, and Rome. The blog also has a list of sponsors and allows gallery owners to apply for space on their blogroll.

Moving forward with the idea that critics are generally feared people. Caryn Coleman’s voice is rather informative and does a good job of negating the above statement. For example, her ability to include a leading gallery, famous museum, and well known artist into one blog post not only cements her knowledge in the field of art, but also proves her information’s accuracy. She is very aware of the inner workings of the gallery seen and her ownership of a Los Angeles gallery gives her an edge on other critics who rely on owners to supply them with locations to view art.

“It’s been a while since I’ve made an Ed Ruscha post…long overdue in fact! I had the pleasure of seeing his Shattered Glass show at Gagosian when I was in London last fall and look forward to seeing his new show at Gagosian when I’m in London again this March…I also saw the Millias’ show at Tate Britian last year too and was absolutely blown away by the paintings. There is an extraordinary wetness to the paint of the flowers, hay and fabric in his work; it’s all about the details.” (Caryn Coleman, Ruscha in London!, art.blogging.la)

Not only do these quotes express a worldly quality, it also offers an explanation of painting techniques. Her ability to pick up on the materials used in the painting make her writing more believable. The reader can understand what she is talking about because they understand how the painting might look or how the image is composed on the page. All of these are elements that create a critic worthy of following and believing.

While Caryn does hold some biases, like all good critics do, her overall way of approaching material at hand makes the reader want to believe what they are reading as true, as seen in her post about the ART LA show that recently ended in Los Angeles. She laments that emerging artists are offering nothing more that neutral art, but does so in a way that offers hope for the future, rather than a pessimistic view of art to come. This approach towards a bright outlook for the art world’s future draws in more readers rather than turning them away with negative remarks.

When I was in Berlin this past September spending much time at the Preview Berlin and Artforum Berlin fairs I realized something…there wasn’t any art that I say that I either loved or hated. And what a sad state that is. “Everything was so placid, so middle-of-the-road that nothing was shocking in either a good or bad way. And on my last day visiting museums I saw (again) Paul McCarthy’s “Chocolate Santa House” and “Meat Santa” that it hit me – why aren’t emerging artists doing anything remotely this shocking, titilating, gross, sexy, and (key word here) smart? And if they are, why aren’t they being given bigger platforms?”(Caryn Coleman, When does the market end and the content begin?, art.blogging.la.

Caryn has succeeded in creating the persona of humble gallery owner who happens to have a wide range of art knowledge in her repertoire. While the blog appears to be straight forward and serious, her posts show a true excitement for the information being presented. The use of exclamation points and overall happiness to be sharing her views of art with the world reiterate the fact that critics are people too and they appreciate art along with the everyday people. She also posts art pieces with no text or explanation as her posts, leaving the reader to enjoy or dislike on their own. This technique offers a refreshing change from the other critique sites that impose their thoughts on every painting, photo, and sculpture. Finally, while critics offer more credit in the terms of art criticism, in the end they do not dictate what is good or bad. Caryn may present what she believes needs improvement in the art world, but her overall reason for posting such thoughts is to allow the reader to become educated in a topic they may not have seen before. Her style and approach to presenting art to the public removes the critics from their pedestal and places them amongst the other viewers in a gallery, a place where more people can understand and learn.

While Los Angeles has been creating its own reputable art life for many years, there is no denying that New York was the first to achieve it. It was deemed the center of the art world after the surrealists flocked their after WWII and has continued to grow ever since, but a city that holds such high standards for art can often seem intimidating. Each district holds its own set of galleries with completely different genres, it’s hard to find one to begin with. When searching through the inner-workings of a powerful gallery scene, it is nice to come across something that reminds you that art is meant for enjoyment and mistakes are all part of the discovery process, for example coming across the clever blog Escape to New York.

Escape to New York is a blog written by a boyfriend/girlfriend team (mostly written by the girlfriend Jen) about the reality behind moving from a quaint college town, to the fast paced city in Manhattan. Jen is a painter and photographer, while her boyfriend, Hooper is a painter. The blog does a wonderful job of linking the reader to Hooper’s portfolio site, Hooper Turner, and Jen’s photo site, Jen Bandini. Jen writes about her daily activities, museum visits, recent gallery openings, and photos from her life. All of this is presented like a journal as if the readers are being invited to read her inner most thoughts. The blog seems to reflect the journey of a little girl navigating an art community that is so much bigger than her; while that sounds naive, the overall voice is that of an insider who is comfortable pointing out her knowledge as well as her unawareness. Jen does not attempt to know everything about the galleries she lives amongst, but rather emphasize that even a little art in one’s life is a good start.

An interesting post that points out Jen’s understanding of the art world comes from an exhibit from one of her friends. The post describes an installation, but rather than reviewing it, Jen chose to have the artist explain it first hand.

“Correspondence is an exercise in exchange, and in the ritualistic experience of letter writing. Both centered around the phenomenon of the birthday celebration, Per Annum and Correspondence seek to highlight individual traditions and experiences via our personal memories.” (Rachel Jobe, 1.09.08, escapetonewyork.net)

Rather than attempting to describe the show on her own, Jen found it more important to let the artist speak for herself. In the end the readers get a first hand explanation of the work and may feel more inclined to view the installation because they know exactly what to expect.
A review from a more recent post offered a criticism aspect to the blog. Jen reviewed the work of Takashi Murakami, at MOCA at the Geffen Contemporary, after a trip to Los Angeles. While this show was generally seen as a wonderful addition to L.A. and an artist as prominent as Murakami is intimidating for a new art critic to critique, Jen’s ability to stray from formal critique resulted in a more believable account. Her sarcastic yet knowledgeable review offered a light hearted aspect to the post, a voice that appears in many of the posts on this site.

“I am not willing to accept an art that fits so easily, one that is so clearly a huge marketing ploy disguised as irony. That “we” still buy into this is the ultimate irony, and Murakami – fully aware of this – still gets the last laugh because any argument against his work folds in against itself. That’s how perfectly constructed and intrinsic his defense is, and yet…” (Jen Bandini, 2.06.2008, escapetonewyork.net)

The voice is the best part of Escape to New York because it creates a more inviting post. While I loved Jen’s gallery reviews and art openings, her humor seemed the most endearing, as seen in her lengthy post about the joys of flying a hipster airline and the accompanying photo of her lunch on her Virgin America flight to Los Angeles. Pointing out that personality is what makes a scene, not necessarily how scholarly the people are within it.

This blog can help me choose what to post for my readers. Jen and her boyfriend try to show how things really are for the public in the art world. It is not made up of critics, in fact galleries and museums are made for the everyday viewer. Although they are not experts in their field, they still manage to obtain a little bit of fame, for example when Jen commented on her joy after being recognized at an opening. While The Art Underground is meant to inform those hoping to grasp the Los Angeles art scene, I also want to show that the people within this group are in the business of art in order to connect the viewer to the artist. It should always be about the sharing of art because if one person appreciates a piece, they should want to share it with someone else. My blog can show that the people who frequent the galleries are allowed to make mistakes and have trouble finding the artists they want to follow because in the end they will find where they want to got. If anything, the people one meets while visiting the galleries and museums are every bit as interesting as the art on the walls.