Ben Davis (art critic)

Last updated
Ben Davis
Born
United States
Nationality American
Occupation(s)Art critic, writer

Ben A. Davis is an American art critic who is known for his writing on politics, economics, and contemporary art, and for his book 9.5 Theses on Art and Class (2013). In 2022, Haymarket Books published his second book, Art in the After-Culture: Capitalist Crisis and Cultural Strategy. Like 9.5 Theses on Art and Class, Art in the After-Culture is a collection of his cultural essays. [1]

Contents

Career

Davis was executive editor of the art news website Artinfo from 2010 to 2013, and before that associate editor of Artnet Magazine from 2005 to 2010. He is currently the National Art Critic for the art news website Artnet News. [2]

As an independent writer, his work about art has appeared widely in publications including Adbusters , Frieze , New York , Slate , and The Village Voice . [3]

Davis was one of the editors of The Elements of Architecture, the catalogue for the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale, curated by Rem Koolhaas. [4]

In 2015, The New Yorker art critic Peter Schjeldahl has referred to Davis as “among the excellent younger critics now.” [5]

9.5 Theses on Art and Class (Pamphlet)

In 2009, Davis wrote the pamphlet 9.5 Theses on Art and Class as an intervention into the art show titled #class at Winkleman Gallery in New York City, which set out to explore how artistic success is determined by economics. The discussion generated by the pamphlet drew notice in The New York Times , [6] and was “one of the most talked about sessions” of the #class show, according to Sarah Thornton. [7] 9.5 Theses on Art and Class was later translated into Spanish and Romanian. [8]

9.5 Theses on Art and Class (Book)

9.5 Theses on Art and Class, a collection of Davis’s essays including the title pamphlet, was published by Haymarket Books in 2013. [9] Upon its publication, 9.5 Theses on Art and Class received positive notice in both the mainstream and art press. The Stranger concluded its review by saying, “We should hold town hall meetings on this book.” [10] The Village Voice faulted Davis for “too readily” using Marxism as an explanatory model, but concluded, “On 9.5 Theses, the verdict is crystal: This is one helluva pamphlet.” [11] 9.5 Theses on Art and Class was featured in New York magazine’s “Approval Matrix” on July 13, 2013, which called it a “riveting manifesto.” [12]

The book has been credited with “[bringing] the discussion of class, artists, and the art market center stage in a way that [goes] beyond fleeting auction reports and perpetual gallery gripes.” [13]

Art in the After Culture: Capitalist Crisis and Cultural Strategy (Book)

Published by Haymarket Books in 2022 "Art in the After-Culture: Capitalist Crisis and Cultural Strategy" was listed on several "best books of 2022" sites. Holland Cotter, Chief Art Critic at the New York Times included it on his list, saying "When future art historians seek perspectives on our era of billion dollar auctions, carbon-footprint art fairs, and market driven diversity, this collection of essays by the American critic Ben Davis is a text they'll consult.... He writes with the coolness of a sociologist, the passion of someone with a horse in the race and the smarts to avoid both cheerleading and snootiness." [14] Lisa Hinton put it on her 2022 list of best books for the London Times Literary Supplement, praising the writing as "... glistening, passionate yet coolly precise.... Brilliant, revelatory, urgent."

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rem Koolhaas</span> Dutch architect (born 1944)

Remment Lucas Koolhaas is a Dutch architect, architectural theorist, urbanist and Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. He is often cited as a representative of Deconstructivism and is the author of Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pulitzer Prize for Criticism</span> American journalism award

The Pulitzer Prize for Criticism has been presented since 1970 to a newspaper writer in the United States who has demonstrated 'distinguished criticism'. Recipients of the award are chosen by an independent board and officially administered by Columbia University. The Pulitzer Committee issues an official citation explaining the reasons for the award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herbert Muschamp</span> American architecture critic

Herbert Mitchell Muschamp was an American architecture critic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Office for Metropolitan Architecture</span> Dutch architectural firm

The Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) is an international architectural firm with offices in Rotterdam, New York, Hong Kong, Doha, and Australia. The firm is currently led by eight partners - Rem Koolhaas, Reinier de Graaf, Ellen van Loon, Shohei Shigematsu, Iyad Alsaka, Chris van Duijn, Jason Long, and managing partner and architect David Gianotten.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Saltz</span> American art critic & historian, b. 1951

Jerry Saltz is an American art critic. Since 2006, he has been senior art critic and columnist for New York magazine. Formerly the senior art critic for The Village Voice, he received the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 2018 and was nominated for the award in 2001 and 2006. Saltz served as a visiting critic at School of Visual Arts, Columbia University, Yale University, and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the New York Studio Residency Program, and was the sole advisor for the 1995 Whitney Biennial.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A. O. Scott</span> American journalist and film critic

Anthony Oliver Scott is an American journalist and cultural critic, known for his film and literary criticism. After starting his career at The New York Review of Books, Variety, and Slate, he began writing film reviews for The New York Times in 2000, and became the paper's chief film critic in 2004, a title he shared with Manohla Dargis. In 2023, he moved to The New York Times Book Review.

Benjamin or Ben Davis may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Schjeldahl</span> American art critic, poet, and educator (1942–2022)

Peter Charles Schjeldahl was an American art critic, poet, and educator. He was noted for being the head art critic at The New Yorker, having earlier written for The Village Voice, ARTnews, and The New York Times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rebecca Solnit</span> American writer

Rebecca Solnit is an American writer. She has written on a variety of subjects, including feminism, the environment, politics, place, and art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roberta Smith</span>

Roberta Smith is co-chief art critic of The New York Times and a lecturer on contemporary art. She is the first woman to hold that position.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benjamin Genocchio</span>

Benjamin Genocchio is an Australian art critic and non-fiction writer. Since October 2019 he has been director-at-large for Shoshana Wayne in Los Angeles and New York.

Pin–Up is a biannual independent architecture and design magazine based in New York City. The subtitle of the magazine is The Magazine for Architectural Entertainment and covers a range of highbrow and lowbrow topics in fashion, art, politics, architecture, and design. Pin-Up was founded in 2006 by architect, curator, and creative director Felix Burrichter. Burrichter currently serves as creative director of the publication, and Emmanuel Olunkwa serves as editor.

Martha Friedman is a sculptor and college professor residing in New York City. Her work has been exhibited throughout the world in both solo and group exhibitions. Her primary exhibitor is Wallspace in New York. She has taught classes at The Cooper Union, Pratt Institute, Princeton University, Rutgers University, Wesleyan University and Yale University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hella Jongerius</span> Dutch industrial designer (born 1963)

Hella Jongerius is a Dutch industrial designer.

<i>Hyperallergic</i> Online arts magazine, based in Brooklyn, New York

Hyperallergic is an online arts magazine, based in Brooklyn, New York. Founded by the art critic Hrag Vartanian and his husband Veken Gueyikian in October 2009, the site describes itself as a "forum for serious, playful, and radical thinking".

List of published works of Peter Schjeldahl, American poet and art critic.

Wooloo is a Danish artist collective founded by Sixten Kai Nielsen, Russell Ratshin, and Martin Rosengaard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interference Archive</span> Volunteer-run political art archive in New York City

Interference Archive is a volunteer-run library, gallery, and archive of historical materials related to social and political activism and movements. Located in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City, at 314 7th Street, with in the zip code 11215, its mission is "to explore the relationship between cultural production and social movements."

Carolina A. Miranda is an American arts journalist and columnist for the Los Angeles Times, where she writes the paper's Culture: High and Low blog. Her writing on art, architecture, creativity, and travel has appeared in national and international publications including Time, ARTnews, Architect, Art in America, Budget Travel, Centurion, Lonely Planet and Fast Company. She formerly published a personal arts and culture blog called C-Monster (2007–14).

1:54 is an annual contemporary African art fair held in London during the October Frieze Week since 2013. It was organized to improve the representation of contemporary African art in worldwide exhibitions, and is the foremost art fair dedicated to contemporary African art in the primary art market. By 2016, the show had become three times the size of the original exhibition with 130 artists represented. A spin-off, pop-up show, 1:54 NY, has been held annually in New York City during the May Frieze New York since 2015. A third location, in Marrakech, began in 2018. Critics have described 1:54 as a highlight of the Frieze event, and wrote that the show's publicity for contemporary African art outweighs the issues of lumping disparate geographic traditions together. The fair's representation from African galleries has improved as the international market for African art expands.

References

  1. ↑ Art in the After-Culture: Capitalist Crisis and Cultural Strategy
  2. ↑ "artnet News Appoints Ben Davis National Art Critic", ‘’artnet News’’, October 30, 2014
  3. ↑ Alex Zafiris, "How Small It Actually Is: Alex Zafiris interviews Ben Davis", ‘’Guernica’’, October 1, 2014
  4. ↑ Nico Saieh, "Rem Koolhaas Elements: Uncovering Architecture's Origins, Assuring Its Future", ‘’ArchDaily’’, July 15, 2014
  5. ↑ Peter Schjeldahl, "Of Ourselves and of Our Origins: Subjects of Art" Archived September 7, 2015, at the Wayback Machine , ‘’Frieze’’, March 2011
  6. ↑ Holland Cotter, "#class", ‘’The New York Times’’, March 19, 2010
  7. ↑ Sarah Thornton (2015). 33 Artists in 3 Acts. New York: Ww. Norton & Company. p. 184.
  8. ↑ Dan Duray, "Artinfo’s Ben Davis Turns in His Book, Expected Out 2013", ‘’The New York Observer’’, June 20, 2012
  9. ↑ “9.5 “Theses on Art and Class, ‘’Publishers Weekly’’, May 2013
  10. ↑ Jen Graves, “Artists Are Not Working Class”, ‘’The Stranger’’, July 10, 2013
  11. ↑ Christian Viveros-Fauné, “All Art Is Propaganda”, ‘’The Village Voice’’, August 21, 2013
  12. ↑ "The Approval Matrix: Week of July 13, 2013", ‘’New York’’, June 30, 2013
  13. ↑ Hrag Vartanian, “10 Best Art Books of 2013, ‘’Hyperallergic’’, December 23, 2013
  14. ↑ Cotter, Holland (Dec 15, 2022). Best Art Books of 2022. The New York Times.{{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

Official website

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.