Thursday, May 04, 2006

Last night I saw Who Gets To Call It Art? at the Nickelodeon, a spirited documentary about the times (mostly) and life (occasionally) of Pop Art impresario Henry Geldzahler. Lots of great 1960s art world footage and occasional contemporary interviews, involving de Kooning, Oldenberg, Motherwell, Johns, Rauschenberg, Stella and, of course, Andy Warhol, who featured Geldzahler in his films. Intelligent, entertaining and never sober-sided, it was a real bolt of inspiration; it made me want to read Robert Hughes and Jed Perl. I picked up some books by them from the library on the way home. I should have picked up one by the great art writer Calvin Tompkins, who is in the movie. I always love his pieces in the New Yorker. Movies like this always trigger a desire to immerse myself in the subject of painting. Years ago I read one art book after the next. It's something I know so little about and there's so much to know.

No comments: