Crit Cross #8 Event

Crit Cross #8. A Forum on Art Criticism
A New Institutional Critique?

Tuesday, 12. November, 6:30pm
Kunsthalle Wien
Museumsplatz 1
1010 Vienna

From Hito Steyrl’s criticism of the Sackler family through the «Tear Gas Biennale» statement leading a board member to step back from the Whitney’s board, public outcries kept making headlines in the artworld in 2019. At this Crit Cross we want to step back and reflect on what’s happening. What are the forms the critique takes? What are its reasons and effects? What’s its relationship to art as art? Are there more reasons to be critical now than before or are the critics more empowered?, are some of the questions we want to discuss at Crit Cross #8 at Kunsthalle Wien. Texts by Jörg Heiser, Allison Hewitt Ward and Ben Luke will be some of our companion pieces for this edition.

The texts can be accessed here:
Kann die Kunst sich das leisten by Jörg Heiser, Republik, 13.07.2019
A Postmortem on the Whitney Biennial by Allison Hewitt Ward, Spike Art Daily, 19.09.2019
Museums cannot ignore artists’ values by Ben Luke, The Art Newspaper, 24.07.2019

Context for the topic (further readings):
The Tear Gas Biennial, ARTFORUM, 17.07.2019
A Letter From Artists In The Whitney Biennial, ARTFORUM, 19.07.2019
Warren Kanders Quits Whitney Board After Tear Gas Protests, The New York Times, 25.07.2019

This Crit Cross is realized in collaboration with Kunsthalle Wien.

About Crit Cross:
Crit Cross is a reading and discussion group of current critical writing about art and society, a platform for the sustainable promotion of art- and sociocritical dialogue and art-related topics, founded by Verein K in Vienna. Meetings take place every two months and are facilitated by art critic, image theorist and curator Klaus Speidel. Discussions take place in German or English. Anyone is welcome to suggest a text published in the last two months for discussion and join the group. For questions and suggestions get in touch with critcross@verein-k.net.