Issy Wood, Aspen, Pat Steir, Medieval Dublin
I just got back from Anderson Ranch last night, where I spoke with my new friend, the fascinating painter-writer-musician Issy Wood. You can watch our conversation here. I had a strange, fun few days in Aspen (my first time there!) and I might just compile my notes (about dinners, Matthew Barney, Sherrie Levine, altitude sickness, the extremes of the scene) into a diary for the Critics’ Table…
Speaking of TCT, we just published an excellent longish review by Gee Wesley of Stan Douglas’s exhibition “Ghostlight” at the Hessel. If you’re in the city for the dog days, go see Pat Steir’s show in Soho (through August 15), which I wrote about briefly, and Julien Ceccaldi’s at MoMA PS1 (through August 25), which Paige K. Bradley covered. For the moment, for technical reasons, it seems impossible to provide an unpaywalled link even if I wanted to, so perhaps it’s time to subscribe. (Now, a Critics’ Table membership includes digital all-access to CULTURED.)
And if you happen to be traveling to Dublin (I went to see Lana Del Rey perform), I highly recommend medievalist Ralph Smyth’s exquisite, dramatic lecture (and short musical recital) in the excavated ruins of a Cistercian monastery. You sit in one of these chairs, in this glorious rib-vaulted underground chamber (the Chapter House of St. Mary’s Abbey, discovered in the basement of a bakery), riveted and transported by Ralph’s almost dangerous passion for his subject. Lana was also fantastic.
