New Art Examiner Without Fear or Favor

Agnieszka Brzeżańska’s World National Park is akin to that first moment after waking from an intense dream. Brzeżańska’s collective works—paintings, drawings, collage, some sound and video—suggest a story of earthly, human existence through time. They are stories of mark-making, of record-keeping, of illustrating ideas and dreams and stories, both real and invented. The first room contains a series of works …

How do we judge art and what is the role of the art critic? This article compares James Elkins’ (2003) views on art criticism, with those of others and my own. I am an amateur collector and a psychologist. James Elkins (2003) claims that art criticism is produced and ignored in equal measure. It is not rooted in any academic …

Editorial 33.6 Dear Editor, Are you suggesting that American philosophers no longer exist? What about David Abram, philosopher, ecologist and performance artist? Marilyn McCord Adams, who recently died? Owen Flanagan with his work on the philosophy of the mind? David Carrier, American philosopher and also art critic? Have you heard of Professor Michael Slote, professor of ethics? The list of …

A picture is not worth a thousand words. Nor do actions speak louder than words. Words are actions. To form a word—whether written or spoken—involves muscle, movement and energy. A word is the definition of an action. Words are the most accessible and precious tool that humankind has. Everyone has equal access to them, and can convey them in defense …

Some lives are lived under such brutal, unrelenting conditions that they are unimaginable to the majority of us, and how a person survives at all can seem incomprehensible. When it is an artist who has endured those circumstances they can provide a foundation for work that realizes art’s fullest potential in fusing creative expression, and the most volatile extremes of human experience. …

A month before the 2019 Whitney Biennial had concluded, the museum announced its curators for the 2021 Biennial. That was a well-oiled machine grinding into action, but it snatched any remaining thunder from this year’s Biennial which was already limping to a miserable end after being hijacked by protestors and artists  demonstrating against one of the museum’s board members. Sadly, …

In this issue: Speakeasy with Annie Markovich Lynda Green on appreciating Edward Hopper Jane Addams Allen and Derek Guthrie from Chicago Tribune on Edward Hopper’s legacy Al Jirikowic, Washington D.C. Editor, looking at Edward Hopper Margaret Lanterman and Phillip Barcio review Expo Chicago 2019 The Legacy of Apathy –  a talk  given by Derek Guthrie in Washington D.C. 2019 John …

Apathy Are you one of the many visitors on our planet who suffers from apathy, without even knowing what this popular malady is? Do you drag yourself around, day after day, going to bed fighting sleepless nights, while searching for meaning in your life? Sounds like something out of the preacher on horseback’s message in the early years of the …

Why Speakeasy? Believe it or not, there was space for a new feature in the early days of the NAE. Jane Allen & Derek Guthrie had the idea to open up the pages to different voices of the artworld, preferably unknown and known personalities. Jane asked me for a suggestion. We had a brainstorm about the title, and shortly Speakeasy …

Edward Hopper has been one of my favourite artists since I started taking an interest in art. Along the wall leading to the cafeteria at school, we had a frieze of Seurat’s pointillist painting, ‘A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. Queuing for lunch I lazily examined it and, knowing nothing of pointillism, even the term, I …

Chicago Tribune: Sunday 3rd December 1972 Jane Addams Allen & Derek Guthrie were the art correspondents for the Chicago Tribune for nearly two years. It was only when one of their articles was pulled from the galleys that Jane suggested they publish themselves and start the New Art Examiner in 1974. Their thirst for freedom of speech is our inheritance. …

I think we now have a certain advantage of “time” in respect to our viewing of Edward Hopper’s work. It is how he came into his “own” that I wish to discuss. I am taken by the life of Hopper’s “own”, a “resplendent” throughout his life’s work. Hopper is usually discussed for his take on the lonesome American city or …

Each fall we look forward to Art Expo, and every time it has a new personality. This is what you would expect, as one of the prominent purposes of art is to reflect the current cultural milieu. This makes attendance at the Expo all the more interesting and enjoyable. Last year ‘social conscience’ and ‘interactive content’ were prevalent. Artwork reflected …

EXPO Chicago Director Tony Karman has finally made the leap from organizing a Chicago art fair to facilitating a Chicago Art Week. This year, his main event coincided with the first ever NADA (New Art Dealers Alliance) fair in Chicago, along with dozens of museum and gallery openings around the city and the opening of the 3 rd Chicago Architectural …

The New Art Examiner is difficult to explain, as it does not fit into convenient categories. I refer to our Statement of Purpose, printed in every issue since the first one. These profound words were written by a forgotten hero, Edward Fry, the Curator and Art Historian who defied the Trustees of the Guggenheim Museum in New York. He lost …