Arts Professional Story: Jason Foumberg, Newcity
As Art Editor for Newcity and also an independent curator, how do you deal with issues of conflict of interest?
The phrase ‘conflict of interest’ is thrown around a lot, and there is a particular sensitivity to it since the Village Voice fired its art critic Christian Viveros-Fauné, in January 2008, for concurrently running an art fair. Somewhere there’s an ideal that a critic, historian, or journalist speaks at a remove, and is unmotivated by self-interests. But we are not accountants. The reality is that someone involved in the arts is personally and professionally motivated to support the arts because that’s what they love to do. Certainly there’s a lot of ego in the art world, and there’s a lot of finger pointing, but those fingers are poking through holes in the air.
Perhaps more concretely, writing about art, and my recent curatorial projects, stem from a desire to intellectually engage and support artists. It’s quite natural for a writing project to flow into an exhibition project. Artists put press and exhibitions on their resume as a way to entice collectors, but I do not profit from that; there is no kickback. If you are involved in the arts and are worried about conflicts of interest, a simple awareness of perceived problems and attentiveness to roles and the ‘players’ might be all that is needed to avoid unpleasant situations.
Your art writing is incredibly varied in terms of who, what and where you review. How do you keep up with all that's going on in the city and how important is it to you to have such coverage?
As an editor, I work to cultivate unique voices, by way of journalism or criticism, that will aptly represent the diversity of artistic practices in the city. I rely on my Newcity writers to expose me to new artists and locales, such as galleries in Oak Park that I couldn’t normally attend on a typical Friday night of openings. I have one writer who likes to cover happenings in the graffiti world, and another on the Southside. It’s definitely important to have many different tastes reflected in Newcity’s art section rather than promote an artificial or theoretical style.
I also use the internet a lot. It’s great when an artist will use his or her website or blog as a studio wall by posting tidbits that inspire thought and reflection. Links to other artist websites keeps the stream of consciousness flow moving.
A lot of people involved in the local art scene complain about the lack of art critical coverage. What do you think?
This sounds like a similar complaint that there isn’t enough art here in Chicago. Really, neither complaint is true, and if you’re a practitioner of either, it’s infuriating to hear. Being a full time art critic (which I am not) is as rare as being a full time artist or author. The implication is also that to be the best writer or artist one can be takes a great amount of time, which is a privilege.
Recently, the Chicago Reader ceased its art criticism section, so those who desire art criticism are going to have to learn to look elsewhere. Several artists and arts groups have taken initiative to self-publish art magazines and websites centered on art criticism, for instance Bad at Sports, Proximity, the recently defunct BAT journal, Green Lantern’s Phonebook, and the forthcoming Prompt by the Chicago Artists’s Coalition. Many of these groups are publishing words on paper despite the current publishing crisis. Chicago also has some critics whose opinions are valued because they have seen a lot, such as James Yood, Susan Snodgrass, and Lane Relyea, and a younger generation should take note of their long view.
To me, this sounds like a very vibrant art critical scene.
One more thing: if an artist feels under-represented by the critical establishment, I recommend they simply get in touch with us. Write a press release and send it several weeks before your show. If you are having a show and want feedback, ask for it.
What do you think the future of art criticism/journalism will entail?
It is important for art to rejoin the rest of the world, and it is the job of the cultural critic to make the leap, and to touch his tongue to the battery. I don’t have any predictions, just metaphors.
Jason Foumberg is Art Editor and columnist at Chicago’s Newcity magazine, writes freelance criticism for Frieze, and works at the Art Institute of Chicago. He can be contacted at jfoumberg@newcity.com