Art critic Jed Perl has a theory about the state of the contemporary art scene. He believes that the art world--which he defines as an ideal community of dealers, collectors, curators, and viewers who support artists over the long term, regardless of market or other forces--is on the verge of extinction. Primarily he blames the art-market publicity machine and the complicity of major magazine editors and crowd-hungry museum directors. Together, they overhype already-successful artists like Cindy Sherman and Julian Schnabel to the detriment of the "different, unglamorous, half-buried scene" composed of emerging artists and denizens whose work has consistently evolved over the course of long, quiet careers. Eyewitness is a collection of Perl's essays, written over the last decade or so, in which he single-mindedly pursues his definition of a healthy art world and the perils that threaten its existence. His writing on wide-ranging subjects such as the 1995 Whitney Biennial, the audio component of Bruce Nauman's sculpture, the building of L.A.'s Getty Center, and a 1997 exhibition of Braque's mid-century masterpieces is filled with predictions about the trajectory of the art world, many of them dire, some of them worthy of serious consideration. Readers will likely react strongly to Perl's occasional rants, but what cannot be refuted is that, as art critic for the New Republic, he is extremely knowledgeable about his topic. He writes simply and accessibly and suggests interesting ideas for consideration. Eyewitness is a relevant read for anyone connected to the art world, including even the occasional museum visitor or gallerygoer. --Jordana Moskowitz


From Publishers Weekly
For the six years veteran journalist Perl (Paris Without End; Gallery Going) has been the art critic for the New Republic, he has consistently argued for struggling artists in their studios and against some of the best-known art stars of the last 20 years, from Chuck Close to Cindy Sherman. On a month-to-month basis, this underdog, work ethic-centered approach to art reviewing can be refreshingly contrarian, championing the slow, thoughtful creation of art, and deriding what Perl sees as contemporary art's fundamentally misguided assumption: that context and not content is what makes or breaks a work, or at least governs its immediate impact. Collected in a book, though, these we-they essays embody not so much a Robin Hood spirit as an extended appeal to the taste-based art criticism of poet John Ashbery (referenced by Perl repeatedly), though without Ashbery's genial stance. Perl writes most often about paintings; those he likes best, reproduced in 32 b&w illustrations, are complex compositions by artists who make conspicuous use of perspective, either narrow or foreshortened (R.B. Kitaj, Jean H?lion). He especially likes the studio as a subject (Stanley Lewis, Trevor Winkfield), and has a weakness for allegorical group studies (Gabriel Laderman). Perl's prose is elegant and readable despite his disdain for segues and his often blunt remarks. Of the 26 essays here, several deal with established figures like Balthus, Jasper Johns and Bruce Nauman. While one would think that having contemporary art's number would make Perl a little less critically cranky, his readings of the works that touch him remain illuminating. (Mar.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Book Description
A provocative look at the contemporary art scene by one of the country's leading art critics As art critic for The New Republic, Jed Perl is renowned for combining a passion for art and a skepticism about the current art establishment with an ability to write about art in the context of our larger culture. In this collection of essays, including two written especially for this book, he delivers a brilliant mixture of first-rate art criticism and politically informed insight into the true workings of the American art world. Perl offers incisive analysis into the marketing mentality that dominates today's museums, the poverty of academic criticism, and the changing expectations of the gallery-going public. He re-evaluates the old masters, and turns an avid, unprejudiced eye on the works of his contemporaries. He laments the collapse of a gallery culture that once allowed artists to develop slowly, and argues for a radical reassessment of the way art is presented to-and is viewed by-the public.


About the Author
Jed Perl is art critic of The New Republic. He has been a contributing editor of Vogue, a columnist for Salmagundi, and a regular contributor to The New Criterion. Widely respected as an independent voice on art and culture, he has also written for Partisan Review and The New York Times Book Review and appeared on CNN, NPR, and "The McNeill/Lehrer Report." He lives in New York City.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

For those who "still crave the thrilling experiences that only art can offer," New Republic art critic Jed Perl brings to this collection of twenty-six essays his uncompromising critical engagement with the contemporary art world. Perl presents bold, amost novelistic explorations of contemporary artists—including Balthus, Jasper Johns, Bruce Nauman and Joan Snyder—within the braoder context of a lively discussion of museum and gallery goings-on.

Anointing the '90s "The Age of the Deal Makers," Perl laments the collapse of a system that once enabled artists—and especially painters and sculptors—to develop slowly over time. Sparing no one in his examination of the way our culture looks at art, Perl investigates how those charged with the responsibility of fostering artists' careers have deferred matters of taste and quality to the marketplace—with disastrous results.

Eyewitness offers a generous survey of the last decade of museum and gallery going, paying particular attention to the cultural context in which art is made, exhibited and discussed. Perl focuses on developments at institutions such as the Guggenheim Museum and the Getty Center in Los Angeles and shows how hype and context have conspired to exlipse tradtion and content. He details the artists and exhibitions that have thrived in the current market-dominated art world, as well as the deserving work which has received far too little attention.

Eyewitness is the product of a rare critical mind. Jed Perl offers both a passionate engagement with art and a critical assessment of its social context. This book, and its stirring belief in the power of art, will inspire a new understanding of how we look at art and what that says about our culture.

About the Author:

Jed Perl is the art critic of The New Republic. He has been a contributing editor of Vogue, a columnist for Salmagundi and a regular contributor to Modern Painters and The New Criterion. His books include Paris Without End: On French Art Since World War I and Gallery Going: Four Seasons in the Art World. He lives in New York City with his wife, the painter Deborah Rosenthal.

FROM THE CRITICS

Jed Perl - Wall Street Journal

Time plays a pivotal role in The Art of Seeing, the concluding chapter of Mr. Perl's Eyewitness: Reports From an Art World in Crisis. In the essay, he describes how he responds to, and is ultimately thrilled by, a still life by the French painter Chardin. Mr. Perl's eye travels through the canvas with a searching delight. He tunes in to the canvas's particularities and marvels at how they reverberate and multiply. It's a brilliant piece of writing, not least because it doesn't limit our options. Mr. Perl is neither ideologue nor didact. He's a critic who gently but insistently opens the door and doesn't let it shut behind him. Eyewitness is essential reading for anyone who cares about the cultural life of our time.

Publishers Weekly

For the six years veteran journalist Perl (Paris Without End; Gallery Going) has been the art critic for the New Republic, he has consistently argued for struggling artists in their studios and against some of the best-known art stars of the last 20 years, from Chuck Close to Cindy Sherman. On a month-to-month basis, this underdog, work ethic-centered approach to art reviewing can be refreshingly contrarian, championing the slow, thoughtful creation of art, and deriding what Perl sees as contemporary art's fundamentally misguided assumption: that context and not content is what makes or breaks a work, or at least governs its immediate impact. Collected in a book, though, these we-they essays embody not so much a Robin Hood spirit as an extended appeal to the taste-based art criticism of poet John Ashbery (referenced by Perl repeatedly), though without Ashbery's genial stance. Perl writes most often about paintings; those he likes best, reproduced in 32 b&w illustrations, are complex compositions by artists who make conspicuous use of perspective, either narrow or foreshortened (R.B. Kitaj, Jean H lion). He especially likes the studio as a subject (Stanley Lewis, Trevor Winkfield), and has a weakness for allegorical group studies (Gabriel Laderman). Perl's prose is elegant and readable despite his disdain for segues and his often blunt remarks. Of the 26 essays here, several deal with established figures like Balthus, Jasper Johns and Bruce Nauman. While one would think that having contemporary art's number would make Perl a little less critically cranky, his readings of the works that touch him remain illuminating. (Mar.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

Troy Jollimore - The Boston Book Review

One of the glories of Brancusi's work is that it makes you stop thinking. You just love it. It's that simple.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

For years Jed Perl has been covering the art world with tremendous empathy and unsparing accuracy. His ability to recognize the traditional forms of art behind their continual transmutation has made his an almost solitary, essential voice. — John Ashbery

Maybe all good critics are inspired cranks. Jed Perl gets excited about art and when he writes, in his silkily precise way, about works in the classical traditions he can get readers excited, too. One thing is certain: he doesn't swallow the art-world party lines. He's necessary. — Pauline Kael

Jed Perl always writes free of jargon and with the good humor of true seriousness. And while he has given serious thought to a host of complex conceptual issues, this book truly constitutes eyewitness rather than theory-addled hearsay. — John Hollander

I learn more from reading Jed Perl than from any other art critic today. He teaches me how to see, and how to think—not just in regard to the visual arts. — Paul Berman

Perl's savory and audacious writing about contemporary art excites our desire to see the works themselves. That's the true purpose of art criticism. Eyewitness offers a bracing and much needed lesson in how to look long and hard at the New York art scene in the year 2000. — Roger Shattuck