Solomon scholar's topic: 'crisis' in state of art criticism

Artist, curator and critic Nicolas Guagnini is this fall's Alfred Z. Solomon resident and will participate in several events while on campus next week. 

The Solomon Residency engages long-standing as well as recent debates on the nature and practice of art criticism. 
 While on campus, Gaugnini will engage in two events, one open only to the campus community and the other open to the public. Admission to both is free.

Recent articles and texts have suggested a "crisis" in the state of criticism, citing a critical "free for all" in which, especially in this digital age, an author's credibility and a text's standing are simply unknown. It is an ideal time to bring noted critics and experts to campus, highlighting the complexities of art criticism and its potential as a literary and cultural practice. One goal of the Solomon Residency is to provide Skidmore students who may be considering a career in art criticism with background on current issues in the field, as well as an introduction into the theory and practices of art criticism.

In the first public event of the residency, Guagnini will discuss the emergence of the artist critic and how this new category of participant in the art scene has altered the relationship of artist to criticism. Guagnini will use this context to challenge the critical reception of his latest exhibition in the September issue of Artforum.

The session, open only to members of the campus community, is scheduled from 4 to 5:15 p.m. Monday, Sept. 26, in thePayne Room of the Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery.The seminar for faculty and students will focus on Orchard Gallery, a cooperatively organized, short-term exhibition and event space in New York City, co-founded by Guagnini.

At 6 p.m. Monday in the Payne Room, Guagnini will give a talk titled"Talking Back to Artforum," in which hewill try to challenge the critical reception of his last exhibition in the September issue of Artforum.

An accomplished artist, curator, and critic, Guagnini has exhibited his work internationally, including in established museum and exhibition spaces like El Museo Del Barrio, New York; Site Santa Fe, New Mexico; MADC, the Museo de Arte y Dise o Contempor neo, San Jos , Costa Rica; Museum of Modern Art, Buenos Aires, and the Museum of Modern Art, Sao Paulo, Brazil. At Orchard Gallery in New York, Guagnini has curated, most notably, an exhibit of video art at MOMA, New York ( 9 Screens, 2010 ). His writing has appeared in Artforum, Bomb Magazine, CAA Reviews, Modern Painters, October, Parkett, Cabinet and Time Out. Additionally he has published essays, comments and interviews in many exhibition catalogues.

The Alfred Z. Solomon Residency Fund was established by a 2005 bequest to Skidmore. The fund supports short- and long-term residencies in the art history and art departments and the Tang, bringing notable scholars, artists, and critics to classrooms, studios, and the museum. Residencies address a wide range of issues in the visual arts and featured varied opportunities for formal and informal interaction.