Customer Reviews

Art City: VHS Box Set

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The most revealing films about artists I've ever seen. If you want to meet artists who have been making the news and get to see what they are REALLY like, in their private moments as well as at gallery openings, these films are for you. Incredibly intimate. I mean that look on Amy Adler's face when she tears up her paintings... Wow.

I saw one of these films in Paris a few years ago on a double bill with Andy Goldsworthy: Rivers & Tides - another favorite of mine. Since then, I have seen all of the Art City films and just love them. The reviewer heckling below is either drunk, or high on crack... or must work for Art 21, a show which is pale and soulless in comparison. I have friends who are art educators and they all prefer the Art City films in their classes. Not only are they informative, but entertaining as hell!

No doubt about it, this DVD collection is wonderful addition to any lover of modern art.

The first DVD, Making it in Manhattan, showed how artists were going back and forth about the issue of how artists should focus on working and not promoting their work vs. others who believed that artists should do both. Yes one gets to see them showing their work and explaining their concepts, but the tempo was a bit slow for me.

The 2nd & 3rd DVDs from the set were more alive. At some points one might feel that the number of in-and-out comments by artist Louise Bourgeois was a little too much, but still the lady has a charming character and insight into art and life. Seeing Chcuk Close in action and how he fixes his brushes on a glove to paint since he's physically challenged was inspiring.

I took 1 star out for making Art City focused on New York in particular and a few other US cities. Everyone knows how great New York is as an art hub; yet it would be interesting if a European version or an Asian version would follow this collection.

Bottom line: Is it worth buying? If you saw any of Art:21 episodes or DVDs and you enjoyed it, then the answer is YES. Go ahead!

Chris Maybach documents art and artist in the actual and intellectual worlds they inhabit. His films are not tricky, not sycophantic, not celebrity worshipping; they are reportage of a unique kind. There is a certain aura around a commercially and/or critically successful artist, and that cannot be avoided. It should not be avoided; it is the working reality of the artist. But the subjects' prominence might obscure Maybach's straightforward working method, one that makes his films sought after by educators and musuem curators, among others in the art world, which is to ask each to address fundamental issues of making art, and after that's done letting each say what he or she wants to say. Sometimes it's a lot, sometimes less than you'd like. But these are honest films, and as such they are valuable -- as well as entertaining and intriguing -- works of cultural history.

Frequently in New York, I'm lucky that there's plenty of art to see. It's out there, which is good because TV still doesn't know how to present contemporary artists. Most art films are listless and painfully routine, however I fould these DVDs full of detail and never dull. It doesn't make any difference in what order they're screened, there is always something interesting to look at, or a personal moment that's revealed. Several dozen artists are profiled and although all might not always be of interest to me, like in a good group show, the 'mix' of artists is what makes the experience unique. From the vulnerability of Elizabeth Peyton to the cool of Brice Marden, and with critics like Dave Hickey and Jerry Saltz pondering the rules of the art game, this series gives plenty to think about while also being unexpectedly entertaining. The liner notes indicate an `Altmanesque' filmmaking approach, moving from studios, to dinners, to back offices --and the structure works. Ready or not, you're plunged into the art pool.

Frequently in New York, I'm lucky that there's plenty of art to see. It's out there, which is good because TV still doesn't know how to present contemporary artists. Most art films are listless and painfully routine, however I fould these DVDs full of detail and never dull. It doesn't make any difference in what order they're screened, there is always something interesting to look at, or a personal moment that's shared. Several dozen artists are profiled and although all might not always be of interest to me, like in a good group show, the 'mix' of artists is what makes the experience unique. From the vulnerability of Elizabeth Peyton to the cool of Brice Marden, and with critics like Dave Hickey and Jerry Saltz pondering the rules of the art game, this series gives plenty to think about while also being unexpectedly entertaining. The liner notes indicate an `Altmanesque' filmmaking approach, moving from studios, to dinners, to back offices --and the structure works. Ready or not, you're plunged into the art pool.

You know, if I see one more stuffy, poorly directed/edited/produced art dvd....I'm going to scream. No wonder people who aren't artists want to slit their wrists when their new boyfriend/girlfriend suggests they "get cultured" and watch this DVD on artists' and their lives. The artists seem bored in the video (overall) and the questions are the same top 10 questions you always hear. Save the money and buy some nice whiskey.

This is edited totally in weirdo, director-wants-to-be-best-friends-with-the-subject fashion! For example, one of the discs becomes "The Richard Tuttle Show"...we are introduced briefly to a couple artists and then we never see them again, however, most of the 53 or so minutes are spent watching Tuttle wander around his house with bizarrrrrro country-esque musak in the background (well, mostly foreground). What happened to all the other great artists we saw for a minute? I want to show these pieces to my BFA and MFA students, but they have turned into "How to Critique This Video" assignment instead. Watch Art21 if you want better and more scope for contemporary artists. Oh, and there is something really boring about watching it and the extra interview section. Why? How?