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October 10

 Minnesota Street Project Atrium, 1275 Minnesota Street
San Francisco, CA 94107

SFADA Presents: Art Criticism in the Digital Age

6:30 pm–8:00 pm

Join us for a lively discussion on contemporary approaches to art criticism in the evolving art ecosystem. The panelists will explore current and future channels for critical discourse – print, online publications, podcasts, social media – and address issues relevant to art critics and their audiences today. How does one write about the physical experience of artwork when audiences are increasingly getting their art virtually? How can one maintain focus on aesthetic values, when much of the readership is focused on market values? Panelists will explore the shifting relevancy in art of social engagement, identity politics and affirmative action in times of crisis. They’ll also be asked whether or not, as art critics, they see the Bay Area as an incubator for globally recognized art.

The Panelists:
Michele Carlson is the Executive Director of Art Practical and Daily Serving, two online arts publications, and an Associate Professor in Visual and Critical Studies at California College of the Arts. She is a practicing artist, writer and curator whose trans-disciplinary research investigates the intersections of history, power, and visual culture. She has served as Editor in Chief for Hyphen, a national print and online publication focusing on Asian American culture and politics.

DeWitt Cheng is an art critic, curator and artist who has participated in the Bay Area art world for many years. His reviews have appeared in numerous publications, both print and online: Artweek, Art Ltd., Artillery, ArtNews, East Bay Express, East Bay Monthly, Sculpture, San Jose Metro, Stanford Daily, SanFranciscoArtMagazine.com, Artslant.com, ArBusiness.com, DailyGusto.com, and VisualArtSource.com. Cheng also serves as curator of Stanford Art Spaces.

Charles Desmarais is art critic for the San Francisco Chronicle. He received the 2017 Rabkin Prize for Visual Arts Journalism and was awarded an Art Critic’s Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts in 1979. He joined The San Francisco Chronicle in 2016 after serving as President of the San Francisco Art Institute since 2011. He has published articles in Afterimage, American Art, Art in America, California Magazine, and Grand Street, among others.

Patricia Maloney (moderator) is the Executive Director of Southern Exposure, an artist-centered non-profit committed to supporting visual artists. She was the founding editor and director of Art Practical, and the publisher of Daily Serving. Maloney has written for Artforum, ArtChronika, the Brooklyn Rail, Meatpaper, and SFMOMA’s Open Space, as well as for numerous exhibition catalogues.

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