The ‘Non-Art’ of Art Fairs

Is it OK to destroy a Van Gogh?; Turner Prize reviewed; Marcus Coates – how does psychosis feel? |

View this email in your browser Circular Logic From Frieze London to 'Paris+ par Art Basel', Martin Herbert imagines what it might be like to spend a year at art fairs without ever going home (among other things, a guaranteed way to lose your mind). The strange stoppage of time, space and people within art fairs (the sterile booths, identikit coffee stands, tanned collectors in suits) also extends to the art itself, he writes. Canvases that seem 'predicated on some collective if unspoken agreement that, what the hell, it's the end, let's just have colour and superficially pleasing composition again, and things that remind us, rosily and blurrily, of other things from other times'. It's 'non-time art'. Elsewhere on artreview.com: Tom Whyman wonders whether it's ever OK to soup a Van Gogh – if the world really is sliding towards Armageddon, he writes, then destroying art would be well be justified; now streaming in Art Lovers Movie Club, Runo Lagomarsino's short film Europa Point (2019) finds tragedy and renewal in political and geographical borders; artist Marcus Coates attempts to become 'a willing conduit' in his investigation into the experience of psychosis; J.J. Charlesworth considers this year's 'nervy, loud and unstable' Turner Prize, which proves as insider-y as it is eye-popping; and much more. En Liang Khong, Director of Digital Feelgood Staleness 'The period of avant-garde challengingness in art hasn't been that long,' Martin Herbert notes, 'and retrograde painting everywhere 24/7 is maybe just the strongest signal that there's no longer appetite for difficulty, or even unfamiliarity.' read now Can and Hammer From Van Gogh and Damien Hirst to Jimmy Carr, the destruction of art has been in the news quite a bit recently. Tom Whyman assures us that, whatever the debate, we're asking all the wrong questions. read now Cultural Anxieties Looking back to past injustice or forward to impending crisis, this year's Turner Prize at Tate Liverpool is a nervy, loud and unstable affair – and, for J.J. Charlesworth, one troubled by a lazy habit of insider selection. read now 'Europa Point' In this month's Art Lovers Movie Club, Swedish/Brazilian artist Runo Lagomarsino's film Europa Point (2019) depicts a 1970s postcard of the Strait of Gibraltar: once set alight, its cinders offer hope for renewal in the face of trauma and melancholy. stream now How Does Psychosis Feel? Adam Hines-Green visits Marcus Coates's The Directors at Churchill Gardens Estate, London, where the artist tries to stage reenactments of the reported pyschotic experiences of others – and understand the 'un-understandable'. read now Inner-View A new monograph for Amy Sherald's Hauser & Wirth show, reviewed by Nirmala Devi, seeks to connect tradition and contemporary sensibility in her work – via Ta-Nehisi Coates and Michelle Obama. read now Uncontainable Forms Cold War: the mysterious at MAIIAM, Chiang Mai attempts to capture the felt plebeian texture of Thai political history. Max Crosbie-Jones delves into Thasnai Sethaseree's biggest and most audacious show to date. read now Deadpan Broken Narratives Martin Herbert reviews the work of Mark van Yetter, whose Plunderbund Charity at Ebensperger, Berlin impresses – without didacticism – the self-seriousness of human beings and their varied divertimenti. read now Skeletons in Waiting Andra Ursuţa's Joy Revision at David Zwirner, London attempts to render invisible presences in the physical world. Skye Sherwin finds in it all the contrasting extremes of feeling provoked by death: the profound loss, the bad punchline. read now Charmed and Flushed Cat Kron tours the last of the summer exhibitions in Denmark, Norway and Sweden – taking in the works of Grace Metzler, Dorothy Iannone, Nancy Holt and Gardar Eide Einarsson along the way. read now Is Love All There Is? A new show of Sarah Sze's work at Gagosian Athens – attended by Ben Eastham – explores the tension between the boundless dimensions of time and space, and the limits of human perception. read now Not subscribed yet? Sign up to ArtReview's newsletters © 2022 ArtReview Ltd. All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in at www.artreview.com or the previous digital magazine website Our mailing address is: ArtReview Ltd. 1 Honduras Street London, England EC1Y 0TH United Kingdom Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.