Clement Greenberg looking at a Kenneth Noland

Blackfish is 35 this year and Blackfish member and Reed College professor Michael Knutson noticed coincidentally that Clement Greenberg's much hated and yet relentlessly referenced essay Avant-Garde and Kitsch is celebrating its 75th birthday as well. It was kismet so Knutson set about convening a panel of art writers, critics and historians to discuss both Greenberg's most famous work and the way its influence becomes a lens on art today. Greenberg later he recanted many of his definitions of kitsch. Panelists include; Randy Gragg, Eva Lake, Barry Johnson, Paul Sutinen, Sue Taylor and myself. It should be an interesting mix as our backgrounds vary from artists like Lake and Sutinen to journalists like Gragg and Johnson to historians like Taylor and myself. Knutson will moderate and we have been asked to discuss some of our favorite exhibitions as well so it should provide ample opportunity to learn some insights into your local art press corps, all in one convenient place. I've lived here 15 years and Portland has never convened a panel like this.

Avant-Garde and Kitsch Today | April 19th, 2:00PM
Blackfish
420 NW 9th ave



Josef Albers (American, b. Germany, 1888-1976) Homage to the Square, edition 35/125, 1967 screenprint

If you are in the Bellingham area catch Radical Repetition: Albers to Warhol at the Whatcom Museum. Culled from the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation's collection of international prints and Northwest art the show explores the effects of serial sequencing in art imagery in figurative and abstract art.

Radical Repetition: Albers to Warhol | April 19 - August 17
Whatcom Museum
Bellingham Washington