C145—SPRING 2020

Deadline: October 10, 2019 *

In the last handful of years, an unprecedented proliferation of voices in criticism has begun to change the landscape of contemporary art discourse and its stakes. How has this recent turn affected power dynamics within the art world, if at all? What is criticism’s capacity to incite change? When critics talk, do institutions listen? What’s the relationship between art criticism and the public callout? How can critics engage a politically-minded criticism without just saying what they think they should be saying? How can we challenge assumptions of expertise based on identity? How do we grapple with the ethics and etiquette of crossing identity lines in criticism, toward meaningful dialogue? Is it possible for marginalized critics to be more than advocates of marginalized artists and to actually critique their output—now that they are both ostensibly more visible? How do we characterize the feedback loop between critics and artists today? What responsibility do publications and editors have to the critics they publish and to their audiences? What are the implications of the privileged insisting on “giving voice to the voiceless” instead of ceding space altogether? How can we remove the persistent barriers of access—race, class, gender, ability, mentorship—to criticism? What are the structural causes that make these symptoms recur?

*Thematic feature pitches due October 10. Review pitches (not thematic) are received on a rolling basis until October 30.

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