How to talk about art

Sat, 14 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0000

With longtime champion of the most boring cerebral art in the world, the Dia Foundation, finalizing plans to move back to Chelsea, it’s time to put on our thinking caps and learn how to talk about conceptual art.

Chill. You were going to have to anyway. Even though Dia doesn’t turn the lights on in Chelsea until 2017 or so, Sol LeWitt is everywhere this summer, with shows at Museum Leuven in Belgium (Sol LeWitt: Colors, June 21–Oct. 14), and at the Centre Pompidou Metz in France (Sol LeWitt: Wall Drawings from 1968–2007, through July 29, 2013) and some of my favorite LeWitts are at Mass MOCA (Sol LeWitt: A Wall Retrospective, through 2033). Also, a public garden project by LeWitt, “Lines in Four Directions in Flowers” can be seen at the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s William M. Reilly Memorial in Fairmount Park, and then there’s the second life of Op Art and Bridget Riley getting set to accept the City of Siegen’s 12th Rubens Prize.

So, don’t be caught with your pants down in front of some inexplicable wall full of squiggles: Not only will you get arrested (umm…maybe) but you’ll look like a schmuck.

Salon.com > Cat Weaver

How to talk about art