Michelle Kamhi
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Art Critics or Political Agitators/Activists? (redacted)

June 27, 2020 / Michelle Kamhi / Art and Politics, Art criticism, Contemporary art, social justice / 37 Comments

[July 3 Addendum] As a member of AICA-USA (the U.S. section of the International Association of Art Critics), I recently received an email message from the Board of Directors announcing: “AICA-USA has issued a statement of solidarity with the Movement for Black Lives [M4BL].”1 That statement—which had not been submitted to members for input or […]

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"systemic racism", AICA-USA, art criticism, avant-garde, conceptual art, contemporary art, critical pedagogy, critical standards, critical thinking, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, de-skilling of art, Defund the Police, diversity, George Floyd, Goya's "Saturn Devouring His Children", Gregory Sholette, John Canaday, M4BL, Marilou Lemmens, Peter Schjeldahl, Richard Ibghy, Seattle's CHOP district, Shaun King, Susan Rothenberg, Trump Derangement Syndrome

The Art of Critical Spinning

June 4, 2019 / Michelle Kamhi / Abstract Art, Art criticism, Contemporary art / 3 Comments

The Art of Looking (Basic Books, 2018) by art critic Lance Esplund—a frequent contributor to the Wall Street Journal, among other prestigious publications—is yet another of countless attempts to reconcile the public to the bizarre inventions of the avant-garde.1 A more fitting title would be “The Art of Critical Spinning.” Subtitled How to Read Modern […]

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Balthus, contemporary art, Damien Hirst, elements of art, Giacometti, Gislebertus, Jackson Pollock, Lance Esplund, language of art, Malevich, Marcel Duchamp, modern art, Piero Manzoni, Piet Mondrian, readymades

My Contrarian View of Contemporary Art

December 18, 2018 / Michelle Kamhi / About 'Who Says That's Art?', Contemporary art / 15 Comments

Contemporary pseudo art’s stranglehold on the culture is reinforced by countless prestigious institutions—among others, my alma mater Barnard College.  Since 2011, Barnard has been offering alumnae and friends a “lifelong learning” course entitled “Conversations in Contemporary Art” [more], aiming to demystify such work through an insider view of the artworld. Taught by art historian Kathleen […]

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Barnard College, contemporary art

An Open Letter to the Chairman of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

October 5, 2018 / Michelle Kamhi / Contemporary art, General / 5 Comments

The following letter was mailed to Daniel Brodsky, Chairman of the Met Museum’s board of trustees, on September 3rd. (I insert relevant links here.) In lieu of a response from him, I received a platitudinous letter from Jessica Hirschey, the museum’s Deputy Chief Membership Officer, dated September 17. That letter is appended below, along with […]

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contemporary art, Max Hollein, Metropolitan Museum of Art

A Toilet Is a Toilet Is a Toilet

January 27, 2018 / Michelle Kamhi / Art and Politics, Contemporary art / 1 Comment

Marcel Duchamp’s signed urinal dubbed Fountain isn’t a work of art, “conceptual” or otherwise.1 Neither is Maurizio Cattelan’s gold toilet dubbed America (offered on loan by the Guggenheim Museum to the White House last year, in lieu of a painting by Vincent van Gogh that had been requested). They are mere artworld stunts. Isn’t it […]

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contemporary art, gold toilet, Guggenheim Museum, Marcel Duchamp, Maurizio Cattelan, Nancy Spector

Contemporary Art Worth Knowing

June 9, 2017 / Michelle Kamhi / Art Education, Contemporary art, Exhibitions / 4 Comments

Two exhibitions this spring have powerfully belied the artworld pretense that all contemporary art is in an anti-traditional “cutting-edge” vein. And unlike the contemporary work that fills today’s leading museums and galleries, they offer art lovers something to rejoice in. The smaller of the two shows is Self-Portrait (April 20 – June 20)—at the Eleventh Street […]

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art education, Art Renewal Center, Classical Realism, contemporary art, self-portraits

Barking Up the Wrong Trees in Art Education

May 12, 2016 / Michelle Kamhi / Art Education / 4 Comments

What’s being taught in art classrooms these days? Lacking a comprehensive survey, I can’t offer a definitive answer to that question. But I can point to some prominent examples that should trouble anyone who regards visual art as a potent component of civilization and thus an important part of children’s general education. Abstract Art 101 […]

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Alex Garant, art education, contemporary art, Mark Rothko, Michael Beitz

Duchamp or the Baroness?—What Difference Does It Make?

August 2, 2015 / Michelle Kamhi / Contemporary art / 17 Comments

Is the infamous urinal signed “R. Mutt” (featured as the centerpiece on the cover of Who Says That’s Art?) really the brainchild of Marcel Duchamp, as the artworld has long claimed? Or was it instead merely a copy by him of a piece originally created by a relatively obscure figure of the early twentieth-century avant-garde—a […]

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conceptual art, contemporary art, Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven, Fountain, Glyn Thompson, Julian Spalding, Marcel Duchamp, readymades, urinal

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About ‘For Piero’s Sake’

Who was Piero, and why was this title chosen? Read here.

Recent Posts

  • Revisiting Jan van Eyck’s Arnolfini “Wedding” Portrait
  • Remembering Howard McP. Davis
  • Art History Gone Amuck
  • Art Critics or Political Agitators/Activists? (redacted)
  • The Rehumanization of Public Art

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