Symposium: Canvases and Careers Today
Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Saturday, 15 December, 3 p.m. Aula, Städelschule
Sunday, 16 December, 2 p.m. Theater of Immanence, Portikus

This conference takes up the propositions of Harrison and Cynthia
White’s seminal study, "Canvases and Careers" (1965). It
deliberately avoids the usual pessimistic accounts that deplore
criticism’s supposed powerlessness. Instead of mourning its
obsolescence thereby adopting the perspective of a history of decay,
we propose a different take on the situation. We want to assess the
changes resulting from the current "market-imperialism" (Ulrich
Bröckling) as structural and functional changes. As much as new
competence profiles have emerged, criticism’s function seems to be
renegotiated as well. It is the premise of this conference that
criticism is faced with new constraints AND new spaces of possibility.
While it is certainly true that criticism has very little impact on
the secondary market, it nevertheless represents a commodity that is
highly in demand in other spheres since an economy based on knowledge
production desperately wants to incorporate it.

Harrison and Cynthia White famously coined the term "dealer-critic-
system". According to them, it replaced the academic system in late
19th century due to the special needs of the impressionist movement.
We want to ask if it is still a "dealer-critic-system" that makes an
artist’s career? Wouldn’t it be more precise to speak of a "dealer-
collector-system"? There can be no doubt that we are currently faced
with a high degree of mobility between the commercial and the
institutional spheres. Presently clearly circumscribed competence
profiles have become fluid. New types of critic-curators, collector-
dealers or artist-gallerist-critics emerge everywhere. Is this a sign
of an emancipatory end of a formerly rigid division of labor? Or does
this enlargement of competence simply correspond to the postfordist
call for flexibility and mobility?

We look forward to discussing these matters with you at our conference!

Please take note:
- No accreditation required.
- In the Theater of Immanence in Portikus seats are limited.

The Symposium is organized by the Institut für Kunstkritik,
Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste - Städelschule.
With the generous support by Heinz und Gisela Friederichs-Stiftung

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Schedule:

Saturday 15th December

Aula, Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste – Städelschule,
Dürerstr. 10, 60596 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

3:00 p.m. Welcome: Daniel Birnbaum
Introduction: Isabelle Graw: Long live criticism!

3:20 p.m. George Baker: Late Criticism
3:40 p.m. Response: André Rottmann
Followed by discussion

4:30 p.m. Johanna Burton: More Than This
4:50 p.m. Response: Julia Voss
Followed by discussion

5:30 p.m. John Kelsey: Headless Criticism
6:00 p.m. Response: Merlin Carpenter
Discussion/End

Sunday 16th December

Theater of Immanence, Portikus, Alte Brücke 2,
60311 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

2:00 p.m. Resumé: Daniel Birnbaum/Isabelle Graw

2:10 p.m. Branden Joseph: Later than Late
2:30 p.m. Response: Tom Holert
Followed by discussion

3:00 p.m. Melanie Gilligan: The Contemporary Social Market.
3:30 p.m. Response: Isabelle Graw
Followed by discussion

4-4:30 p.m. END

Contacts:

Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste - Städelschule
Dürerstr. 10
60596 Frankfurt am Main
Germany
tel.: +49 69 60 50 08 -0
www.staedelschule.de

PORTIKUS
Alte Brücke 2 / Maininsel
60594 Frankfurt/Main
Germany
tel: +49 69 962 4454-0
www.portikus.de

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