Contrary To Popular Opinion, Things Don't Go

Willem De Kooning Is Generally Credited For Coming Out Of The Painterly Gates Strong In The Forties, Revolutionizing Art And Abstraction And Reaching Incredible Heights By The Early Fifties, And Then Tailing Off.

The Art Gods Cooked Up Something Special For James Ensor.

After Too Much Art That Made Too Much Sense, Artists Are Operating Blind Again. They're More Interested In The Possible Than The Probable, The Private That Speaks Publicly Rather Than The Public With No Private Side At All.

Any Negative Review You Write, They'll Say, "oh, You're Being So Mean." I Think The Problem With A Lot Of Criticism Is That Too Many Critics Either Write Just Description Or They Write In A Mandarin Jargon That Only A Handful Of People Can Understand, Or They Write Happy Criticis - Everything Is Good That They Write About. I Think That's Really Not Good. I Think It's Damaged A Lot Of Our Critical Voices.

I See Around 100 Shows A Month, Going From Niketown-size Palaces Where You Feel Like Yelling, To Storefronts In Bushwick. Each Has To Pay The Bills; Keep Artists Happy; And Cope With Collectors (oy!), Curators (ay-yi-yi), Critics (woo-hoo!), And Occasionally Plumbers. That Their Fiscal Life Often Hangs In The Balance Only Adds To The Energy.