The Thinking Eye
Visit the The Thinking Eye art blog.
Arthur Whitman is a New York artist and art critic.
Whitman’s art blog is predominately comprised of reviews of New York art exhibitions. The Thinking Eye showcases Whitman’s talent for writing reviews, a talent which has seen his work published in:
- Art and Perception
- A & P: My Posts
- Big Red & Shiny!
- Big Red Articles
- Ithaca Times
- Times Review Archive
- Tompkins Weekly
Whilst we do not believe it is necessary for an art critic to also be an artist, The Thinking Eye does make us think that there would be room for more artists to write as art critics. We appreciate that the willingness to work on something other than art, and the capacity to rationalise and articulate in writing as well as Whitman does, thins the field. Being an art critic also sits somewhat perilously with being an artist: accusations of bias, favouritism, conflict of interest, and the need to pull a stick out of one’s own eye, are something of an occupational hazard. We therefore consider it fortunate that Whitman continues to produce such interesting and regular entries.
Whitman’s reviews are candid when expressing opinion, which is not to say that those opinions can be viewed as anything other than earnest. Whitman is particularly effective at explaining the rational behind his opinions. For example, a view that something is not up to scratch may be contextualised as being not as good as their last exhibition. We find this sort of context extremely useful.
It is probably Whitman’s analysis that we most enjoy though. Analysis focuses on an artist’s technique, and you can expect a thorough exploration in this area.
For us, Whitman stands out in the busy New York art scene as being one of the best artist / art critics around.
We like this article:
New States, 29th November 2008
Why we like it:
Whitman reviews new State of the Art gallery members: Leslie Brill; Erica Pollock; Andrew King; and Ethel Vrana.
Summary
Name of blogger: Arthur Whitman
Year of Creation: 2006
Average Entries per month: 3
Art subject: Various
