I Like the Art World and the Art World Likes Me

The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, New York

Do you think that back in 1974, when Joseph Beuys was locked in the René Block gallery in the middle of his action I Like America and America Likes Me, that he stared at that coyote and thought “future generations of artists are going to make so many references to this moment”? Yes or no, certainly something in that ambivalent title has continued to inspire, and most recently in New York, where the ambivalence Beuys directed at the beast that is America is being directed at the beast that is the Art World.

Curated by Eric Doeringer, known for his project of bootleg versions of the artworks of more than 100 contemporary artists, I Like the Art World and the Art World Likes Me can been seen as either a sincere or a sarcastic exploration of the relationship between emerging artists and the established art world. Like a “love/hate” relationship, reverence is duly tempered with criticism in this group show of artists who use the art world as their subject matter. Whether through strategies of emulation or direct criticism, I Like the Art World and the Art World Likes Me demonstrates a constantly shifting relationship that itself emulates that of Beuys and the coyote. Expect the sometimes adversarial, and the sometimes friendly, but will one hug the other at the end?

January 14, 2011 – March 5, 2011 at The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, 2nd floor of 323 West 39 Street, between 8th and 9th Aves. Opening Hours: Wednesday -Saturday: 12noon – 6pm.

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Categories: New York, Art

Contributing writer: Melissa Frost

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