Explain Me With Art Critic Ben Davis: The Year That Wasn't, Part Two

What does contemporary kitsch look like? In this episode, Paddy and William use a discussion of the art fairs and New York gallery scene to lead a defining of the term. From its generic definition of objects described to be in poor taste because of excessive garishness or sentimentality, to the current nostalgia driving a tasted for recycled art movements, all kitsch lacks in originality. Listen in for the whole conversation.

Art media does a great job at looking forward to art events, yet rarely looks back to reflect on what these happenings say about the cultural moment. In this episode of Explain Me, co-hosts Paddy Johnson and William Powhida do a deep dive into the fairs to discuss the deeply conservative sales landscape we've been sinking into over the past ten years. ARTISTS DISCUSSED Carlos Jacanamijoy’s 2020 ab ex painting “Carminos de Luz” at Harper’s Laurie Reid’s “Ballast” at Et Al. Gallery The Baboon Chair by Margaux Valengin at Pact Paul Gabrelli’s “Everyday Objects” at New Discretions Elliot Reed at Anonymous Gallery Dan Colen at Gagosian Al Freeman at 56 Henry Tessa Lynch’s text-based compositions at Patricia Fleming Gallery Scott Lyal at Migeul Abbreu Gallery Aaron Garber-Maikovska Casja von Zeipel’s Celesbian Terrain Kevin McCoy’s corporate-sponsored display of Quantum and some generative artworks by Jennifer and Kevin McCoy. Pedro Reyes, Alex da Corte, Nayland Blake, Alex Katz, Matthew Wong,

We're baaaaack! After a four month break William and Paddy return with some big news about the podcast and an in depth conversation on The Whitney Biennial. We do the full dive here: What are the themes? How is it organized? Is it worth seeing? Is it too cautious? Who are the notable omissions? Why do these omissions matter?

How many times have we seen artist-centered communities lose their grass roots identity when they buy property? High profile organizations that have shed their founders vision as they gained visibility such as the New Museum and Meow Wolf serve as cautionary tales. The quality of the work they produce suffers and their poor treatment of employees makes headlines. That's to say nothing of personality-less art complexes like The Shed, which cement the wealth of their funders while meagerly contributing to the city's cultural life. But these types of cultural outcomes are a choice and not an inevitable destiny, a reality made clear in this episode's interview with Flux Factory's Nat Roe. In his role as residency Executive Director, Roe recently secured $5 million from the city to purchase the building the organization has been working out of since 2009. Additionally, the organization will now operate a new satellite location, Flux IV, a the 3000 square foot ground floor gallery space on the ground floor of Gotham Point’s South Tower building. At no point in our discussion did we talk about significant changes that needed to be made to Flux's DNA to make this acquisition happen. Rather we talked about the importance of sound proofing their building so they don't disturb the neighbors. In the midst of LIC, a homogenized tech-enclave for Manhattan commuters, this grass roots artist organization and residency program will now serve as a permanent beacon of creative energy for the community. Can the DCLA support other smaller arts organizations in New York by helping them purchase real estate? Nat Roe gives us the skinny, going full wonk on city policy, while offering a history of Flux Factory and its place in the New York City arts landscape.

In this episode artist Chloe Bass’s tweet pointing to the hypocrisy of the art world leads to a discussion of labor, the New York art fairs, and unions. We discuss: Max Lankin’s observations for ArtForum on the Armory Fair about how the new digs at the Javits Center improve upon the Piers, which were literally falling into the water. Funny how easy it is to forget that the Javits Center, just two months ago, served as a mass vaccination center, and the year prior a makeshift hospital for COVID victims. Mostly people were just happy to see each other again. Dana Kopel’s piece in the Baffler Magazine, Against Artsploitation, which chronicles the unionization efforts at the New Museum, and the museum executive’s endless gaslighting of employees. The New York Art Fairs. We talk about the art at The Armory Show, The Independent, and Spring Break. The work discussed below: