
This week: The�obituary for�prolific New Yorker cartoonist James Stevenson, a review of “Painting Paintings, an exhibition of David Reed’s paintings from the 1970s, and the shitty review of Amy Feldman’s show in Berlin.
James Stevenson, a�prolific�cartoonist at The New Yorker and children’s book author, has died�at 87. �NYTimes�obituary states that Jim�”spent nearly 50 years at�The New Yorker�gently skewering lawyers, businessmen and other members of the upper middle class � some of the same highly educated and privileged people who read the magazine….His wife, [painter] Josie Merck, said that Mr. Stevenson died of pneumonia, but that he also had dementia.”�Read more.

In The Brooklyn Rail, David Rhodes writes about David Reed‘s paintings from the 1970s that were recently on view at�Gagosian. Curated by Katy Siegel and Christopher Wool, “Painting Paintings“�was first presented at the Rose Art Museum where I saw it this past fall. �”The art world�s narratives are at least as circular as they are linear, visible in this exhibition as a past moment is re-engaged in our present. The urge to continuously move on to something new leaves little room for alternative threads�interests and attitudes that prevail against current fashion tend to be dismissed as obsolete, or undervalued as just ‘precedents.’ Yet here we have an example of just how diverse those connections can be, and how past discoveries can maintain their relevance.�� Read more.

Art F City recently published RM Vaughan’s�shitty�review of Amy Feldman’s latest show at Blain|Southern, Berlin.�When�Facebook exploded,�Jerry Saltz�jumped into the fray. “I looked this guy [RM Vaughan] up. This is his ACT; its his schtick; he is truth-teller – writes like a watered down fake David Foster Wallace, this pretend critic is a failed video-artist himself.�I am sad to see Art F City still trading in snark.�Here’s some sort of windbaggy thing where he tells us about how Conceptual Art is fake or bad or something – same way he tried to tell us these paintings were bad or about money; it is 100% bullshit.” Read more.
Related posts:
Amy Feldman: Practiced and rehearsed
David Rhodes: Events and incidents
Josie Merck: Paintings of the Highline