Keeping It Real Art Critics

Last updated

Keeping It Real Art Critics (also known as KIRAC) is a web series on YouTube and Vimeo exploring the international art world. Directed by Stefan Ruitenbeek, a Dutch artist and director, KIRAC episodes occupy the middle ground between art and art criticism and focus mainly on the influence of modernistic, democratic principles within the art world. In the Netherlands, the platform has gained both praise and notoriety as a result of its confrontational, dialectical approach. [1]

Contents

For a large part, KIRAC episodes consist of conversations that take place within Ruitenbeek’s personal sphere. Contributors to this dialogue, whether friends or enemies, are all said to be part of “Team KIRAC”. Because of their frequent and substantial appearances, archaeologist and philosopher Kate Sinha (1988, Deventer) and artist Tarik Sadouma (1979, Amsterdam) are often regarded as KIRAC co-directors. [2]

Development

KIRAC episodes have started appearing on YouTube since 2016. The early films can be interpreted as the result of Ruitenbeek, Sinha and Sadouma’s boredom with the modern art world and their frustration with the complacency of its representatives. [1] They suggest (KIRAC Ep.3) that democratic, modernistic tendencies in combination with neoliberal policies have created a generation of artists who use their work to cater for the ideological preferences of curators and collectors, thereby lacking sincerity and self-reflection. The first episodes discuss various examples of this dynamic and fit within the domain of art criticism, although their quality as such is sometimes said to be undermined by the use of populist rhetoric. [3] Others maintain that this stylistic choice is part of a thought-provoking, albeit dangerous artistic game. [4]

KIRAC-member Kate Sinha at De Balie (2021). Kate Sinha bij De Balie.png
KIRAC-member Kate Sinha at De Balie (2021).

The qualification of art criticism however no longer applies to more recent releases, in which the narrative structure more and more is taking on a literary form. [5] Shifting from critique to art, KIRAC demonstrates the constructive nature of its criticism [4] and its wish to transform the art world by portraying it. In this regard, Ruitenbeek has explicitly talked about his “paradigm shift”, [6] which must include artists and curators as well as art collectors. For example, KIRAC Episodes 16, 17, 18 and 19 tried to bring about a change of character with collector Philip van den Hurk, alluring his protestant, profit-minded attitude with aristocratic perspectives.

Using the art world as a stepping stone, KIRAC has also applied its critical method to more general domains of perceived political correctness, such as immigration (KIRAC Ep.14) and sexual consent (KIRAC Ep.9). Ruitenbeek:

I want to make art about the trench warfare that is going on between the left and the right. I think it is part of the world we are living in. […] They are recruiting me on the right, where they want to see me as a predator hunting for leftists. And you see the same thing happening on the left, where they say: ‘actually you’re giving great, leftist criticism of the system.’ That’s what I find attractive. [7]

Episodes

KIRAC Ep.1 ‘Verontwaardiging in De Appel’ (Indignation at De Appel)
KIRAC Ep.2 ‘Niet op deze manier’ (Not in this way)
KIRAC Ep.3 ‘De Kunstsubsidiediscussie’ (The Art Subsidy Discussion)
KIRAC Ep.4 ‘The psychology of Jon Rafman’
KIRAC Ep.5 ‘The Tears of Mara McCarthy’
KIRAC Ep.6 ‘De werken van Renzo Martens’ (also published in English: The works of Renzo Martens)
KIRAC Ep.7 ‘Indigenous Flags and Modernism’
KIRAC Ep.8 ‘The Art of Stefan Simchowitz’ (in English)
KIRAC Ep.9 ‘Who’s Afraid of Harvey Weinstein’
KIRAC Ep.10 ‘The bad breath of Mondriaan specialist Hans Janssen’
KIRAC Ep.11 ‘Medusa’
KIRAC Ep.12 ‘100% Integrity’
KIRAC Ep.13 ‘Stigma’ (the Netflix deal)
KIRAC Ep.14 ‘Problem Child’
KIRAC Ep.15 ‘Time’s Up, Old Man’
KIRAC Ep.16 ‘King Philip and the Pied Flycatcher’
KIRAC Ep.17 ‘Blackmail’
KIRAC Ep.18 ‘Parasites and Pecan Pie'
KIRAC Ep.19 'The Goat'
KIRAC Ep.20 ‘The Latent Potency of Rob Defares’ [EXTENDED VERSION]
KIRAC Ep.21 ‘Buse’ (A Good Student)
KIRAC Ep.22 ‘Reasons of Ego’
KIRAC Ep.23 ‘Honey Pot’
KIRAC Ep.24 ‘Under a Sinking Sun’
KIRAC Ep.25 ‘Male Love’

Reception

Ever since the publication of KIRAC Ep.1 “Indignation at De Appel”, KIRAC has both been a topic of controversy and the subject of praise. [3] In 2016, KIRAC was rejected funding by the Mondriaan Fonds, although the institution recognized the “necessity and artistic relevance” of the KIRAC discourse. [8] The next year, however, funding was granted. [9]

In 2018, the cancellation of a discussion about KIRAC Ep.12 at the Rietveld Academy made (inter)national headlines. [10] [11] [12] [13] The academy’s decision to withdraw the invitation was made after some outrage had arisen among its students at the announcement. Their opposition was particularly directed at Kate Sinha, who had written critically about Beatrix Ruf, curator of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, and had illustrated her criticism with the example of a Zanele Muholi exhibition “where the audience was expected to be interested in the lazy works of a spoiled brat, only because she is South-African, lesbian and black.” [14] The disinvitation was finally overturned and a new discussion was organized on the topic of the cancellation of the initial event. [13] This discussion became the subject of KIRAC Ep.13.

During the first four years of their appearance, KIRAC episodes have reached more than 600.000 views on YouTube. [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COBRA (art movement)</span> Artist collective and art movement

COBRA was a European avant-garde movement active from 1948 to 1951. The name was coined in 1948 by Christian Dotremont from the initials of the members' home countries' capital cities: Copenhagen (Co), Brussels (Br), Amsterdam (A).

<i>De Stijl</i> Dutch art movement

De Stijl, Dutch for "The Style", also known as Neoplasticism, was a Dutch art movement founded in 1917 in Leiden. De Stijl consisted of artists and architects. In a more narrow sense, the term De Stijl is used to refer to a body of work from 1917 to 1931 founded in the Netherlands. Proponents of De Stijl advocated pure abstraction and universality by a reduction to the essentials of form and colour; they simplified visual compositions to vertical and horizontal, using only black, white and primary colors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karel Appel</span> Dutch painter, sculptor, and poet (1921–2006)

Christiaan Karel Appel was a Dutch painter, sculptor, and poet. He started painting at the age of fourteen and studied at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam in the 1940s. He was one of the founders of the avant-garde movement CoBrA in 1948. He was also an avid sculptor and has had works featured in MoMA and other museums worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constant Nieuwenhuys</span> Dutch painter

Constant Anton Nieuwenhuys, better known as Constant, was a Dutch painter, sculptor, graphic artist, author and musician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam</span> Art museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands

The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rob Scholte</span> Dutch artist

Rob Scholte is a Dutch contemporary artist. From 1977 to 1982 he studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam. His work consists of reproductions of images from the media and from art history. He lives and works in Den Helder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michaël Borremans</span>

Michaël Borremans is a Belgian painter and filmmaker who lives and works in Ghent. His painting technique draws on 18th-century art as well as the works of Édouard Manet and Degas. The artist also cites the Spanish court painter Diego Velázquez as an important influence. In recent years, he has been using photographs he has made himself or made-to-order sculptures as the basis for his paintings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antonio Jose Guzman</span>

Antonio Jose Guzman is a Dutch Panamanian visual artist, communication designer and lecturer. He lives and works in Amsterdam, Panama City and Dakar.

The Vincent Award is a Dutch prize awarded to a European artist whose works are deemed highly relevant in contemporary art. The award is held every two years in the Netherlands. Five artists are nominated for the award, and are exhibited at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. The winner is granted with the prize of € 50.000. The Vincent award, named for Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh, is aimed at Andrew Rajiah European artists and building the discussion platform within Europe.

Gabriel Lester is an inventor, visual artist and film director living and working in Amsterdam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amsterdamse Joffers</span> Group of 19th century Dutch women artists

The Amsterdamse Joffers were a group of women artists who met weekly in Amsterdam at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. They supported each other in their professional careers. Most of them were students of the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten and belonged to the movement of the Amsterdam Impressionists. Each one became a successful artist. As a group they contributed to the social acceptance in the Netherlands of women becoming professional artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bert van Loo</span> Dutch sculptor

Bert van Loo was a Dutch sculptor, who mainly worked with glass. He was mainly active in the Netherlands and China.

Julika Rudelius is an internationally exhibiting German-born video and performance artist who lives and works in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and New York. Rudelius' photographic and video work examines complex notions of emotional dependency, social power, abuse, identity, and cultural hegemony.

Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam (SMBA) is a project space for contemporary art in Amsterdam, Netherlands. SMBA was founded in 1993 and is part of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. It is the uccessor of Museum Fodor, a platform for young Amsterdam artists that ceased to exist in 1992. The goals of SMBA are to stimulate and signal contemporary art in Amsterdam and to create an international stage for this. SMBA organizes eight to ten solo and group exhibitions annually. The current head of Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam is Jelle Bouwhuis.

Project 1975 started in 2010 as a two-year project based in the Netherlands with the intent to explore the relationships between contemporary art and postcolonialism. Through this project Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam (SMBA) explored the role of art and visual culture in the context of colonial practices. The project consisted of multiple exhibitions, seminars, reading groups, articles, and a blog. "1975" in the title refers to the year that Suriname gained independence and the Netherlands thus became to some extent "postcolonial".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franz Deutmann</span> Dutch painter and photographer

Franz Wilhelm Maria Deutmann was a Dutch painter and photographer. He was a member of Arti et Amicitiae and is considered to be part of the Laren School, an offshoot of the Hague School, which is an independent part of the international movement of impressionism.

Servet Kocyigit is a visual artist based in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marty Bax</span> Dutch-Canadian art historian

Martine Theodora Bax is a Dutch-Canadian art historian and art critic in modern art. Her specializations are the work of Piet Mondrian and the relationship between art and Western Esotericism, especially Modern Theosophy and Anthroposophy.

Laurence Aëgerter is a multi-disciplinary French artist, resident of Amsterdam and Marseille. Her work consists of photographic series, site-specific installations, community projects, tapestries, and artist’s books. In her artistic research, Aëgerter often uses existing images or text material, creating alternatives of historical and contemporary cultural products. In her award-winning 2016 work, Photographic Treatment, Aëgerter sought to engage and connect with individuals with dementia through the pairing of visually similar yet distinct photographs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dutch pavilion</span>

The Dutch pavilion houses the Netherlands's national representation during the Venice Biennale arts festivals.

References

  1. 1 2 Kraak, Haro (2018-01-31). "Waar deze kunstcritici binnenkomen knikken de knieën". de Volkskrant (in Dutch).
  2. "About : Keeping It Real Art Critics". www.keepingitrealartcritics.com.
  3. 1 2 Van der Lint, Roos (7 December 2016). "Keep it real". De Groene Amsterdammer.
  4. 1 2 Lijster, Thijs (18 December 2019). "Wil de echte cultuurmarxist opstaan? KIRAC tegen zijn liefhebbers verdedigd". Metropolis M.
  5. Van Meenen, Vincent (2 March 2020). "Brief aan Hans Theys". Hart Magazine.
  6. Ruitenbeek, Stefan (3 September 2020). "KIRAC Ep.18 'Parasites and Pecan Pie'". www.keepingitrealartcritics.com.
  7. Ruitenbeek, Stefan (8 February 2020). "Kunststof: Thema-uitzending Art Rotterdam". www.nporadio1.nl.
  8. Vrieler, Joost (8 November 2016). "Projectinvestering bemiddelaar en kunstenaar: Beschikking Mondriaan Fonds".
  9. "Funding text 2017 : Keeping It Real Art Critics". www.keepingitrealartcritics.com. 15 January 2017.
  10. Kraak, Haro (2018-02-06). "Gerrit Rietveld Academie annuleert Kirac-debat vanwege 'racistische en seksistische uitspraken'". de Volkskrant (in Dutch).
  11. Pama, Gretha (7 February 2018). "Rietveld Academie verbiedt omstreden bijeenkomst critici". NRC Handelsblad.
  12. "Event with provocative artist duo stirs controversy at prestigious Amsterdam school". Artforum. 9 February 2020.
  13. 1 2 Esman, Abigail (8 February 2018). "Students Allege an Unsafe Environment as Free Speech Debate Roils Top Amsterdam Art School". Artnet.
  14. Sinha, Kate (2017-10-22). "De toekomstige directeur van het Stedelijk Museum". ThePostOnline (in Dutch).
  15. "Keeping It Real Art Critics - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-10-16.