Your Custom Text Here
How the American museum went from "being about something" to "being for somebody." From "The Future of Permanence in an Age of Ephemera," a symposium on museums hosted by The New Criterion at the Consulate General of France on October 21, 2016. Presentations to be published in the December 2016 issue of The New Criterion.
How the American museum went from "being about something" to "being for somebody"
Here is the podcast my presentation for "The Future of Permanence in an Age of Ephemera," a symposium on museums hosted by The New Criterion at the Consulate General of France on October 21, 2016. Full proceedings to be published in the December 2016 issue of The New Criterion.
Thirty-five years ago, in the very first issue of The New Criterion, our founding editor Hilton Kramer warned against a “cultural drift that has brought some woeful consequences in its wake. It has changed the way art museums and other cultural institutions now conceive of their programs and priorities—and indeed, the very reason for their existence.”
On October 21, 2016, The New Criterion will host a symposium on museums called “The Future of Permanence in an Age of Ephemera.” Our event will seek to atomize the changes Hilton identified by considering the history of the museum, the evolution of its vocation and forms, and possible correctives to its misdirection.
It is my pleasure to join Bruce Cole, Eric Gibson, George Knight, Michael J. Lewis, Philippe de Montebello, Karen Wilkin, and Roger Kimball in this discussion. The event at the Consulate General of France, 934 Fifth Avenue, will conclude with a luncheon talk by the art conservator Marco Grassi, who will discuss “the birth of the idea” of the modern museum.
This is an event open to the Friends and Young Friends of The New Criterion.
Versions of the presentations will be published in the December 2016 issue of The New Criterion.
This Sunday at 4:30 join me for a discussion on "Making Art History Outside The Mainstream Art World" at David & Schweitzer Contemporary, 56 Bogart St., Brooklyn. Moderated by Lisa Corinne Davis, the panel includes Deborah Brown, Loren Munk, Krista Saunders Scenna, and Cynthia Tobar. The event is part of a series of discussions around the hardcover book "Making History Bushwick" (for which I am a contributor) and the group exhibition "Seeking Space," a benefit for Arts in Bushwick curated by Julie Torres that will be closing this Sunday at David & Schweitzer.
The weekend also offers another chance to see my exhibition "Bushwick Chronicle: Photography by Meryl Meisler, Writing by James Panero" on view at nearby Stout Projects before it closes on October 30.
Read the latest on the exhibition in Meryl's interview with Dana Schulz out today in 6sqft.
