What is up with the Gawker empire? Up until recently they have been quick to offer snide remarks on a few offerings from the art world, but this pretty much constitutes their arts coverage. Someone must have sold Denton on the power of art and design, because last week they started soliciting artist work, and yesterday I visited affiliate link Gridskipper (a blog about tourism), whose new editor Joshua David Stein appears to be focusing on, among other things, art. What's more — he's funny and has a good eye for it. Take a look:
Gridskipper: Exploding the Paradigm of Reviews (MoMA’s new Dada show): A weensy bit overcrowded (with art and people) MoMA’s exhibit, here through Sept. 11, looks like a absurd junk shop. Objets d’art jostle each other, patrons jostle each other (thankfully no patrons jostle the art) creating a frisson that leads to absurdist moments such as when two older well-heeled New York women stood gazing at George Grosz’ sinister canvas Metropolis, a comment on post WWI excess. “Well I think it’s cute!” one says. The other nods gravely.
They're not Homeless, They're Art: Guerilla street artist Mark Jenkins has descended upon Washington D.C.'s streets with a new installation called Tapemen. As part of this series, Jenkins has placed realistic sculptures such as the man/not man above and other more whimsical pieces (such as a lollipop parking meter) on busy streets and junctions. Jenkins is part of the wave of conceptual graffiti artists that include Bansky and the Graffiti Research Lab. The resulting videos are hilarious and a bit sad as one realizes how relieved most people are to not have to treat homeless people as humans.
Assmeat's Never Tasted Better: Okay, this one isn't really about art. The post has the honor being listed for its virtuosity of titling alone.
It's probably too soon to say if Gawker is really taking more interest in the arts, but we certainly have reason to think this might be the case. What does this mean for the art world? Well probably not a lot, since the content on blogs such as this tend to constitute little more than linkage, but it could mean additional exposure for artists. I guess we can all rush to write this observation down in our book of possible, maybe, good things for the art world.
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