‘Phantom Limbs’ at Pilar Corrias

JJ Charlesworth

My review of ‘Phantom Limbs’ at Pilar Corrias, London, on Art Agenda. Read it here

“People who have lost arms or legs often report experiencing a “phantom limb”—the sense that the limb is still there, or that they can still move or feel it. It’s a good metaphor, too, for current post-internet art debates concerning the shifting relationship of real to virtual, digital to material.“Phantom Limbs,” Pilar Corrias’s smarter-than-most summer show, does a concise job of mapping the various poles of this cultural and theoretical inquiry…”

Subjects v Objects

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JJ Charlesworth & James Heartfield

First published in Art Monthly, March 2014

Recently, objects seem to have taken on a life of their own. This man thinks that another slice of cake will make him happy. That woman thinks that a better school will get her son good qualifications. This man has thousands of girlfriends stored on his hard drive. This girl thinks that a Hollister top will make people like her. Goods fly off the shelves. Exports boost Britain.

Continue reading “Subjects v Objects” →

How not to make public art

JJ Charlesworth

My column on the latest sculpture commissions for Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth on ArtReview.com. Read it here

“The Fourth Plinth committee appear to imagine the public as a strange fusion of bored teenager and angry mob; restless, distracted, excited by bold shapes and colours and thoughtless political truisms about the state of the world.”

Review: Hannah Sawtell at Vilma Gold, London

JJ Charlesworth

My discussion of Hannah Sawtell’s show RE PETITIONER IN ZERO TIME for Art-Agenda

“The building, superimposed on the larger sequence of the pre/post-historic wasteland, is of a factory of sorts, a place for the production of political ideology, at a time when working people’s actions had a direct effect on the world. The building stands in for the people who produce things, rather than for the desert of use(r)less commodities…”

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Cultural Exchange: More Harm than Good?

JJ Charlesworth

I’m one of the speakers on this panel discussion, next Wednesday at the ICA, 10 July, 6.30pm

Book tickets here

Cultural Exchange: More Harm than Good?

£10 / £8 Concessions / £7 ICA Members / £5 ICA Student Members

‘Cultural exchange’ is a much touted yet often rarely examined concept. In the context of the exhibition Points of Departure, this panel discussion explores its complex implications, centring on the key questions: how do artists work within culturally different and predetermined contexts? What is the role and impact of cultural marketing? Are artists and organisations simply fighting for position in an increasingly globalised world? Do nationalist distinctions perpetuate stereotype definitions and perceptions of other cultures?

Speakers include Mark Rappolt, writer and editor of Art Review, artist Rosalind Nashashibi, Andrea Rose, Director of Visual Arts, British Council, and critic JJ Charlesworth.

 

Are you experienced? The relentless rise of experience art

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My column for the April issue of ArtReview.

“There’s a poster on the platform at Barbican underground station, my stop now when I head to ArtReview’s fancy new offices. The poster is for the Hayward Gallery’s current exhibition, Light Show, with an upbeat, punning quote from The Independent newspaper: ‘Hayward Gallery trips the light switch fantastic!’ On the show’s website, a YouTube clip previews the show’s glowing array of artworks that use artificial light, and a warning banner declares that ‘Light Show is extremely popular and tickets are selling out daily. You should expect to queue upon arrival and advance booking is strongly recommended.’”

Read on at ArtReview’s new website here

The end of the artworld

JJ Charlesworth

My column in the March issue of ArtReview.

“It’s an early January evening at London’s ICA. I’m here as part of a panel debating whether or not we’re witnessing ‘The End of the Artworld…?’ Alongside me are The Art Newspaper’s newshound editor-at large Georgina Adam, the avuncular Cork Street dealer James Mayor and youngster commercial gallerist Danielle Horn. Given the hysteria-inducing title, it’s inevitable that the discussion veers towards the downbeat….”

Read on at ArtReview’s new website here

Critical value and market value way out of whack? So what?

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My column for the January-February issue of ArtReview. Read the whole issue for free here

The extreme mix of art and money that makes up a large part of the artworld has few defenders at the moment. After all, how can the values of art – which is supposed to be something good, exemplary or at least disruptive in a positive way – have got so entangled with the values of money, with the apparently evermore- venal culture of ostentatious luxury and financial chicanery that now seems to be the main driver of the international market for art? Continue reading “Critical value and market value way out of whack? So what?” →

ICA Quickfire panel discusssion

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I’m one of the speakers on this panel discussion, next Saturday, 19 January, 5pm

Book tickets here

ICA Quickfire: The End of the Art World…? 19 January 2013

£5 / Free to ICA Members

Chaired by Gregor Muir (ICA Executive Director), this Quickfire talk addresses the profound sea change presently gripping the art world. Muir is accompanied by a panel including Georgina Adam (Art Correspondent,Financial Times/Editor at Large, The Art Newspaper), JJ Charlesworth (ArtReview, Associate Editor), Danielle Horn (Director, Nettie Horn Gallery) and James Mayor (Mayor Gallery).

This discussion will examine the perceived backlash against contemporary art with headlines of record breaking auction prices contradicting news of artist defections, disillusioned critics, over-production, the collapse of the middle market, and the growing difficulties faced by younger artists and their galleries. All the above have contributed to a climate of widespread suspicion, bolstered by splits between big name galleries and their star artists.

Is this the end of the art world as we know it, or are we simply moving into unchartered territories…?