“The Real & Imagined Role of the Art Critic in Contemporary Art”
Roundtable Panel Discussion with the Artists:
Thursday, June 21st, 7pm

Moderator: Mat Gleason, Editor-in-chief, Coagula Magazine

Participants also include
Shana Nys-Dambrot, art critic and Flavorpill Editor-in-Chief
Connie Samaras, Professor, Department of Studio Art, UC Irvine
York Chang and Karyl Newman, exhibition curators

In conjunction with the current exhibition:
“Dear Mr. Saltz”
8 Painters & 1 Critic
Paintings by Douglas C. Bloom, Julie Brown-Smith, Allison Cortson, Ed Johnson,  Chad Robertson, Greg Santos, Tyler Stallings, Holly Williams-Brock

Exhibition runs through June 30, 2007
Pharmaka Gallery
101 W. 5th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013.

What happens when a Pulitzer-nominated art critic writes a strongly-worded critique of painting and sparks an energetic and widespread debate amongst artists about the state of painting in an age of mass media consumption?

This current exhibition, hosted by Pharmaka Gallery on Downtown Gallery Row, was organized as a response by eight painters to one well-known art critic’s critique on the use of photography in painting. Pulitzer-nominated art critic Jerry Saltz’s Village Voice article, “The Richter Resolution,” struck a nerve with its call for a 48 month moratorium on photo-based painting. The article, later reprinted in Modern Painter magazine, sparked heated discussions among artist communities about the meaning of painting and representation in an age of mass media visual saturation. Independent curators York Chang and Karyl Newman bring together eye-popping work by eight painters from some of Los Angeles’ hottest galleries, all of whom use some form of photography and mass media imagery as source material in their painting practices. The exhibition of paintings, along with written materials submitted by each of these artists, is not so much about particular styles of painting as the relationship between artist, the public, and the art critic.

Please join us for a Roundtable Discussion to discuss this exhibition and the role of the art critic in the contemporary art scene on Thursday, June 21st, 2007, 7 pm.  The discussion will be moderated by Mat Gleason, editor-in-chief of Coagula Magazine. Participants include exhibition artists and select panel members including Connie Samaras, Professor at UC Irvine Department of Studio Art, exhibition curators York Chang and Karyl
Newman, and art critic and Flavorpill editor Shana Nys-Dambrot.

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