Jerry Saltz exposed himself at Arthouse last Saturday. The art critic for people who hate art critics, Saltz kept everyone laughing during his lecture on a year in the life of a critic. Arthouse invited the senior art critic for The Village Voice to curate its annual exhibit, “New American Talent,” and while he rarely curates, Saltz agreed to do it. The result is my favorite “New American Talent” show of the past few years. It has 80 pieces – twice as many as usual – and the range of artwork represents the full range of Saltz’s criteria for good art: the artist’s vision, the ability to embed thought in material, and a level of energy whereby the piece puts off more than it consumes. Like British artist Matthew Ritchie at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Saltz notes that “95 percent of the universe is dark matter – invisible.” This is a recently popular theory adopted by art critics to encourage risk-taking. Saltz likes one piece because it’s an itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny, colorful, vaguely interplanetary landscape while he likes another piece for its big, fat block letters of roughly hewn wood on the floor, heavy and literal. He insists on enjoying both and spoke about the rapture of staring and absorbing works of art. Saltz seems to subsist on what his eyes take in. For work, he goes to 40 or 50 galleries a week. I almost yelled out, “Awesome!” when he said this. For fun, go check out the show. For a good time, read Saltz’s Seeing Out Loud: The Voice Art Columns, Fall 1998-Winter 2003, available for purchase at Arthouse for $18. Jerry Saltz can be read online at www.villagevoice.com.
This article appears in June 18 • 2004.