“Evolutions in Art Writing”: A panel on art criticism for Canadian Art’s Gallery Hop

by | Sep 28, 2014 | Conversations | 1 comment

Last week, I sat down with Sarah Milroy, Richard Rhodes and Sky Goodden for a panel discussion about the past, present and future of art writing. Organized as part of the Canadian Art Gallery Hop and the magazine’s 30th year, the talk asked each of us—chosen from a different generation of art writers and editors—to reflect on why we write and to think about the current challenges facing art writers and critics.

It was a thoughtful and (rather typically for Canada) collegial conversation that often circled back to issues of looking slowly, of the importance of subjectivity in art writing, and of the perils of being critical when it is almost impossible to make a living as an art writer. The discussion was livestreamed, for the first time in the gallery hop’s history, and there were some fantastic and critical questions from the audiences both in the room and watching at home (none of which I felt I did a particularly good job at answering). Video documentation of the discussion is now available on Canadian Art’s website, or you can (retroactively) follow the live-tweeting of the event from @canartca.