Daniel’s Value and Ideas #96: On Good and Bad, Part III
20 November 2015 • daniel barnes
In the fight again relativism and subjectivity in aesthetic judgements, I have been outlining how we might approach objective judgements of value.
Author: daniel barnes
I am a writer teacher and curator with an interest in contemporary British art and popular culture. In the past, I have written for Aesthetica, Winq and this is tomorrow, as well as having given lectures at universities and galleries nationwide, not to mention my stint as philosopher in residence on the Butcher's Apron Radio Show. These days, I divide my time between teaching English in an FE college and writing a book about Damien Hirst, as well as writing for FAD. My first book, The Value Industry, which explores the relationship between art and money, is available now from amazon.
Daniel’s Value and Ideas #95: From Asian Future to Rights Now
13 November 2015 • daniel barnes
One of GFest’s core functions is to remind us that although some of us are privileged to live without fear of state persecution or backward mob rule, not everybody in the world is. Thus the themes of this year’s festival is aptly (Complacent Present)…Fragile Future?
Daniel’s Value and Ideas #94: Nobody Puts Basquiat in the Corner
6 November 2015 • daniel barnes
The perennial question that dare not speak its name on pain of heresy is this: what, precisely, is it about Basquiat that inspires such adoration and extravagance?
Daniel’s Value and Ideas #93: On Good and Bad, Part II
30 October 2015 • daniel barnes
The death of Brian Sewell heralded the death of art criticism. Or so I said. It was an inflammatory claim, designed to rile, but there was a grain of anxious serious in it. Sewell was not just a contrarian, he was an astute critic of refined tastes and a conscientious objector.
Daniel’s Value and Ideas #92: Stevens Strikes Again
22 October 2015 • daniel barnes
A mystery Basquiat has appeared in Nashville, Tennessee. An untitled, unknown Basquiat was just gathering dust somewhere until Stevens auction house plucked it from obscurity.
INTERVIEW: Daniel Barnes talks to Emma Gibson about her new solo show ‘Shelling Out’
19 October 2015 • daniel barnes
Gibson’s work is characterised by a fascination with the subtle details of everyday life, where seemingly insignificant characters become heroes, strange happenings morph into life-changing epics and insignificant flourishes are seen as clues to a deeper mystery.
Daniel’s Value and Ideas #91: This Little Piggy Went to Market…
16 October 2015 • daniel barnes
At this point in Frieze – that’s three days in for paupers, and five days for the elite – it is customary to begin to round up the highlights and to deliver a critical judgement.
Daniel’s Value and Ideas #90: On Good and Bad, Part I
10 October 2015 • daniel barnes
Criticism and all aesthetic debate is founded on a toxic belief in subjectivity which reduces to relativism.
Daniel’s Value and Ideas #89: The Collector Who Cried Wolf
2 October 2015 • daniel barnes
Leonardo DiCaprio has joined the ranks of the world’s top art collectors..
Daniel’s Value and Ideas #88: The Life of Brian and the Death of Art Criticism
25 September 2015 • daniel barnes
The death of Brian Sewell is a great tragedy. Never again will the acres of art criticism generated by Britain’s newspapers be punctuated by a single shard of intellectual rigour.
Daniel’s Value and Ideas #87: Unhappy as Larry
18 September 2015 • daniel barnes
Gagosian has been sued by the Archiv Franz West over its latest exhibition of the late artist’s furniture,
Daniel’s Value and Ideas #86: Not So Standard Fair
11 September 2015 • daniel barnes
Art fairs have become ubiquitous in the landscape of the art market. Once you’ve seen one fair, you’ve seen them all: row upon makeshift row of booths desperate to stand out, populated by art that stirs a faint sense of déjà vu and expectant gallerists wielding bottles of champagne. And there’s always a throng of revellers who are there to be seen and those of us waving our press passes as if we matter to the whole circus. But START is different.
Daniel’s Value and Ideas #85: Successful Artist Thought to Himself, ‘Oops, I’ve Got a Lot of Money’…
4 September 2015 • daniel barnes
There is a documentary in which Damien Hirst gives a tour of his Glosucestershire estate, Toddington Manor, explaining his elaborate plans for its restoration. In one spectacular room after another, with an air of affected genius and childish glee, Damien points at the space and exclaims, ‘You could put a shark in there!’.
Daniel’s Value and Ideas #84: The Seaside Town They Forgot to Close Down
28 August 2015 • daniel barnes
The Art Car Boot Fair, which traditionally takes place annually in Brick Lane, travels to Margate this year.
Daniel’s Value and Ideas #83: In Search of the Warhol Truth
21 August 2015 • daniel barnes
An auction house in Mississippi has sold a rare early Warhol for $247,000. The portrait of fashion designer Coco Chanel,
Daniel’s Value and Ideas #82: The Punk Potter and the Philosopher’s Moan
14 August 2015 • daniel barnes
August is a quiet time in the artworld. Galleries have summer shows that drag on, nothing new opens and everyone who can afford to take a month off goes on holiday. The rest of us are still here, not exactly slaving away because there’s nothing to slave at, but languishing in the doldrums. Now the first shards of light are starting to creep through…
Daniel’s Value and Ideas #81: Top Doig
7 August 2015 • daniel barnes
Artnet has published its list of the top ten most expensive living British artists at auction for 2015. The list betrays a gentle change in the current of British art,
Daniel’s Value and Ideas #80: The Importance of Being Tracey
31 July 2015 • daniel barnes
Being Tracey Emin is a full time occupation, although probably not as labour intensive as being Gilbert & George. She is saddled with the unenviable task of perpetuating the myth of Mad Tracey from Margate, which is the source of all her power, while also drifting gently into middle age and maturing as an artist to ensure her longevity. So one wonders how she has time for lavish birthday parties, building controversial new houses and judging drawing competitions.
Daniel’s Value and Ideas #79: Baselitz, the Loan Ranger
24 July 2015 • daniel barnes
Georg Baselitz has demanded the removal of all his loaned works from German museums in protest against regulations regarding the export of artworks.
Daniel’s Value and Ideas #78: Psycho Drama, or When YBAs Go Mad
17 July 2015 • daniel barnes
According to the sensationalist headline in the Independent on Wednesday, Douglas Gordon had gone ‘on an axe rampage after receiving poor reviews’ for his new play at Manchester’s HOME theatre. For one chilling moment we wondered if the strain of being one of the lesser YBAs had finally overpowered him, or if perhaps he suddenly regretted that ghastly Pace show with James Franco ?
Daniel’s Value and Ideas #77: I’d Be Safe and Warm If I Was in LA
10 July 2015 • daniel barnes
High up in the Hollywood Hills, an Englishman is grappling with his demons. After nearly a decade in Bridlington, David Hockney has moved back to Los Angeles, following the tragic death of his young assistant Dominic Elliott.
Daniel’s Value and Ideas #76: Top of the Flops
3 July 2015 • daniel barnes
But then something mystifying happened, something so strange that it feels like we are free-floating in some kind of art market panic room of a cosmos. Francis Bacon’s Study for a Pope 1 did not sell.
Daniel’s Value and Ideas #75: The Misguided Turn around Kapoor’s Dirty Corner
26 June 2015 • daniel barnes
Anish Kapoor has got himself into a spot of bother with a sculpture at the Palace of Versailles
Daniel’s Value and Ideas #74: The Pay Me Girl Has Had Enough of the Bleeps
19 June 2015 • daniel barnes
But it was also about how much money you could throw at art until art died.