Rachel Kushner on What She Takes From Art (and Artists)
Her books are filled with insights into art world types and their relationships to the wider world.
At her home in Los Angeles, Rachel Kushner talks about “The Hard Crowd,” her new book of essays on cultural criticism, and her enduring interest in visual art.Credit.Clifford Prince King for The New York Times
By Jonathan Griffin
April 23, 2021, 9:01 a.m. ET
LOS ANGELES At one point in Rachel Kushner’s recently published novella, “The Mayor of Leipzig,” the narrator, an American artist, reveals: “I personally know the author of this story you’re reading. Because she thinks of herself as an art-world type, a hanger-on.”
Lena Henke Discusses Distances and Desires
From fetishistic sculpture gardens in Italy to a giant breast in New York, the artist speaks with Carina Bukuts on what role gender and sex play in public art
Carina Bukuts With many galleries and museums closed due to the pandemic, public art has become more important than ever. How has the notion of public space changed for you over
the past year?
Lena Henke With private spaces feeling claustrophobic during lockdown, public spaces have had to step in to meet our needs. In these unprecedented times, however, we have had to redefine public space, rejecting the banal passivity of our former daily commutes and, instead, engaging with our surroundings more actively. Resourceful curators have been able to harness this renewed interest and enthusiasm for public spaces by organizing exhibitions that transform our perception of the everyday. ‘Werner Düttmann Building: Berlin’ – an exhibition of the architect’s po
Lena Henke Discusses Outdoor Distances and Desires
From fetishistic sculpture gardens in Italy to a giant breast in New York, the artist speaks with Carina Bukuts what role gender and sex play in public art
Carina Bukuts With many galleries and museums closed due to the pandemic, public art has become more important than ever. How has the notion of public space changed for you over
the past year?
Lena Henke With private spaces feeling claustrophobic during lockdown, public spaces have had to step in to meet our needs. In these unprecedented times, however, we have had to redefine public space, rejecting the banal passivity of our former daily commutes and, instead, engaging with our surroundings more actively. Resourceful curators have been able to harness this renewed interest and enthusiasm for public spaces by organizing exhibitions that transform our perception of the everyday. ‘Werner Düttmann Building: Berlin’ – an exhibition of the architect�
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Once upon a time, you could stand on the roof of 548 West 22nd Street, up among the water towers of Manhattan, with views out over the Hudson to New Jersey, and watch the city shimmer and reflect on the surfaces of one of Dan Graham’s glass pavilions. It was a New York moment. You could go downstairs, following the blue and green glow of a Dan Flavin light sculpture lining the stairwell, and see shows by leaders in contemporary European and American art reaching back to the 1960s. The galleries here, at Dia Center for the Arts, were some of the first to display Richard Serra’s
Re-emerging as a force in Chelsea
after a two-year, $20m renovation, the Dia Art Foundation’s space there will reopen on Friday (16 April) with a renewed purpose: to champion under-recognised artists and to serve as an information hub for all 11 of Dia’s long-term art sites.
The foundation’s Chelsea renovation unites its three contiguous buildings on West 22nd Street and underlines its gritty history of inventively revitalising existing structures. The 32,500 sq. ft project, which includes 20,000 sq. ft for exhibitions and other programming, embraces the neighbourhood’s traditional character and architectural vernacular, with wide-open industrial-style spaces, exposed brick, wooden ceiling beams and rehabilitated skylights that allow natural light to pour in and illuminate the art. It also reasserts the foundation’s importance in championing long-term art installations that flood the senses.