by Jon Lackman | 29 January 2007 | Books, Contemporary
“Critical Mess: Art Critics on the State of their Practice” assembles essays (some already published elsewhere) by James Elkins, Thomas McEvilley, Jerry Saltz, Katy Siegel, Lane Relyea, Arthur C. Danto, JJ Charlesworth, Nancy Princenthal, Carter Ratcliff, Eleanor Heartney, Michael Duncan, Peter Plagens, and Raphael Rubinstein, the anthology’s editor. In his introduction, he writes: “The mess that art criticism has gotten itself into is, in large part, a reflection of the mess that is contemporary art … Lately, however, some critics are balking at the idea that criticism must inevitably be as inconclusive and indulgent as the art world it addresses … Another recurring theme is the seeming diminution of the critic’s influence. There’s surely some truth to Siegel’s observation that when critics from any point on the ideological spectrum complain about the state of current criticism, what they are really saying is ‘Why aren’t I Clement Greenberg?’”
