I have tried to always operate as transparently as possible.
I am an artist in Philadelphia and I have worked towards the creation of two alternative-y, collective-y type spaces there; Black Floor and it’s phoenix, Copy Gallery. I work as the Outreach Program Director at The Clay Studio, a Philadelphia non-profit about to celebrate it’s thirtieth year. Although I have been paid for my written work I think I will forever consider myself an amateur because I do not have the compunction to follow the rules of the professional. My grammar is repulsive. I don’t live in an ivory tower and I do not wish to. My work will be influenced by my friends and acquaintances, my mind will be shaped by my experiences both at work and out in the world. I will, on occasion, review the work of good friends. I will not promise to never review an exhibition at my work place or the gallery I help to run. Some of the things I say will be untested and experimental. I will be wrong on more then one occasion.
I am making no money on the writings for One Review. I am doing it because I want to do it and because of that I am going to do exactly what I want. I feel the need to say all of this because of the feeling many people hold about compartmentalization; that you cannot be both an artist and an art reviewer, that you cannot be a curator and an artist etc. I see some merit in this argument, as you cannot hope that people will not judge your art criticism on the art work you create or the exhibitions you curate. I cannot put my own artwork in the category of artist-writers that have excelled such as Robert Smithson or Donald Judd, but I can say that even Clement Greenberg was accused of writing about his friends (though I have heard this accusation many times before I find I cannot substantiate this rumor with text). My own opinion is that my writing is enhanced by my experiences. I feel I understand the art around me because I have lived it. I have an insider’s knowledge that I will use. To my mind writing about art, making art, and putting together art exhibitions are all different parts of the same whole. I cannot divorce them from one another and I will not be able to stop doing all three.
As always, I invite you to disagree with me.
-Annette Monnier
9/7/09
2 Comments
I am waiting not so patiently for your debut essay! This is a great idea and a much-needed addition to our time and place.
Well well well this is absolutely wunnerful. Love the blagh and I am eager to review your show!
MR
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[...] exhibition is at The Clay Studio and yes, I work at The Clay Studio. Please refer to my “Conflict of Interest Statement” (published in August 2009), a short summary of which could read; I don’t get paid for [...]