Sean Landers: Anticipating the “pathological narcissism of the blogosphere”

Sean Landers is best known for his layered text paintings, which typically advertise his artistic triumphs and failures in tragicomic fashion. In his current installation, �Set of Twelve,� at Friedrich Petzel, Landers reconfigures a series of videos he made in 1990 that feature obsessive monologues spoken rather than painted. Appearing in his empty studio, speaking directly into the camera, Landers satirizes the solipsistic formula of 1970s video art as he tests the limits of his logorrhea.In the NY Times, Karen Rosenberg writes that Landers is a writer at heart, so the video camera sometimes seems like an unwelcome intermediary. “He makes faces, swigs wine from the bottle and ambles across the rooftop of his studio, but mostly he sits and talks (and talks and talks). More than anything, the installation reminds you how much of a ‘1990s artist’ Mr. Landers is; in the current art world his professed ambivalence about fame and fortune seems as dated as his grunge hairstyle. But you could also say that his unchecked ramblings anticipated the pathological narcissism of the blogosphere. ” Hmm…let me check my stats and update my new “Daily Progress” Twitter feed while I consider whether I’m pathologically narcissistic. Aren’t all artists overtly, unapologetically self-absorbed?
“Sean Landers: Set of Twelve,” Friedrich Petzel, in conjunction with Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, NY. Through Nov. 15.