Chris Ofili's Suave, Stippled, Visually Tricked-out Paintings

If The Frieze Art Fair Catches On, I Imagine At Least Two Great Things Happening. First, We Will Once Again Have A Huge Art Fair In Town That Isn't Too Annoying To Go To. More Importantly, Frieze May Finally Show New Yorkers That We Can Cross Our Own Waters For Visual Culture. That Would Change Everything.

Works Of Art Often Last Forever, Or Nearly So. But Exhibitions Themselves, Especially Gallery Exhibitions, Are Like Flowers; They Bloom And Then They Die, Then Exist Only As Memories, Or Pressed In Magazines And Books.

Once Artists Are Expected To Shock, It's That Much Harder For Them To Do So.

Much Good Art Got Made While Money Ruled; I Like A Lot Of It, And Hardship And Poverty Aren't Virtues. The Good News Is That, Since Almost No One Will Be Selling Art, Artists - Especially Emerging Ones - Won't Have To Think About Turning Out A Consistent Style Or Creating A Brand. They'll Be Able To Experiment As Much As They Want.

Any Critic Will Tell You That There Are A Few Dealers Where You Get A Little Bit Scared To Go Into Their Gallery, And That's Unfair To Them, To Yourself, To The Reader, And To The Artist. But I Just Want To Look. When I'm Done Looking And Writing, I Love Talking To Art Dealers. They Are So Alive And Interesting And Amazing - From Larry Gagosian All The Way On Down.