we
got mail!
Art-world
dominance? Now we know who shoulda run for president!
Portland
Art News 1, everyone else 0
Greetings,
Thank you for including Portland Art News (Portland's
First Professional Arts Journal) in your little review
of local art writing. Unlike other professional art organizations,
PAN appreciates the contributions that small DIY groups like NW
Drizzle make to our diverse community. It is the abundance of insignificant
organizations like NW Drizzle that make Portland a significant place
in which to live. PAN applauds your efforts.
I was a little disappointed that there was no scoring
included in the review. How are we supposed to determine who is
winning? Surprisingly, you neglected to give a favorable review
of yourself (although your paternal tone may indicate where you
see yourself in the field). Judging by the competition (and using
the parlance of Critical i), I would have to score it PAN: 1, everyone
else: 0.
Your less than favorable review of the Stephen Cleary/Randy
Gragg essay on Harrell Fletcher and
Miranda July's Learning to Love You More, which appeared in the
Core Sample catalog, is a little off base. I can assure you that
Stephen Cleary is the most brilliant, cosmopolitan and ambitious
thinker of our time. Smalltown editors like Randy Gragg and Camela
Raymond are so threatened by Cleary that they frequently accuse
him of ham handed self-aggrandizement, mercilessly editing his razor
sharp prose in a conspiratorial effort to silence his mighty voice.
This is the price that cultural leaders have to put up with when
living in such a rustic locale (I'm sure you know what I mean).
PAN has uncovered actual correspondence from Randy Gragg and Camela
Raymond to Stephen Cleary that illustrates the kind of resistance
to genius that is (unfortunately) the norm here in Mayberry. In
order for Portland to gain a foothold on the tall and unsteady ladder
leading to International Art World Prominence, editors are going
to have to realize that change is here, and its name is Stephen
Cleary.
STRIPE=TRIPE
Chas Bowie's piece on Tim Bavington is the best review he has written
to date. In his prime, Evel Knievel could not jump the chasm that
divides Hickey's writing from his taste in painting. What was so
mean spirited about the review? Was it Bowie's discussion of Hickey?
It's doubtful that anyone would know who Bavington is without his
connection to Hickey. Was it Bowie's brief mention of money? Money
and the things we buy with it are of primary interest in American
society. Hickey writes a great deal about this subject. If you think
that Hilary Duff's latest CD is the bee's knees, it tells people
something about what you value. If you buy a Bavington painting,
you are revealing something about what you value. One critic's "bartender
that mixes up exotic cocktails" is another's overdose of "pixie
sticks, lava lamps and American Idol CDs." Is it possible that
your reaction to the review originates from your professional connection
to Bavington and not Bowie's "professional jealousy" of
his success?
NEW CHEESEMOPOLATINISM
Richard Speer may be at his most interesting when he is reviewing
the so-called cheese factories. Speer has an addiction for candy
colored crack, and the fact that it doesn't matter where he finds
his next fix gives him (if not the art) some credibility. If you
joined forces and continued hammering away on the established talking
points of sophistication, evolution and directed art scene growth,
you could easily transform the cheese factories into the most important
art spots in the city. Portland Art News achieved its leadership
position in the community by never allowing an inconsequential thing
like art get in the way of our mission for complete art world dominance.
It's all about ambition.
Systematically yours,
Clay Hawthorne
Portland
Art News
Jeff Jahn Responds:
Dear Stephen, er, Clay,
Thanks, although I can't stop listening to Jethro
Tull's flatulently silly music long enough to respond in the proper
Northwest-sanctioned defeatist-regionalist tone. But rest assured
that PAN has clearly taken the lead role in quasi-factual word-whacking
and I hope that all other publications cede that genre to your capable
hands.
Best,
Jeff Jahn
Art Editor
NW Drizzle
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