the slant from Worldwide

(Autumn Anglin, #10511, June 2011, mixed media, 5.75 x 4.5 x 5.25 in. ArtSlant Showcase Juried Winner.) What if art had no craft? A predominant question in the 1960s. Art without craft represented high art: the purest minimal art, industrially manufactured objects that now seem a little too elitist. Go even higher, to the cerebral realm, and artists disposed of the object entirely, in favor of the conceptual. Mix that with the pop politics of the period and you get Yoko Ono's practice, which just seems a bit corny now. On the other hand, Robert Crumb was low as lowbrow goes, but now has major museum retrospectives. And what Benode Behari Mukherjeemade with simple pen and ink evinced a high level of skill even with his declining eyesight. Contemporary artists today decidedly mix craft and concept: Charles Ledray's impossibly exacting craftsmanship is undeniable, yet his works go far beyond mere handiwork; Yang Jian, in contrast, has no hand in the production of his objects, yet uses them to create suspect narratives; and Made in LA's curatorial focus on geographic context unfortunately ends up blunting the works' critical edge. Artists, too, are no longer afraid of the stigma of "kitsch": Josh Faught weaves quilts with thrift-store tchotchkes in a clash of the familiar and the queer; and Liz Craft digs through the detritus of disposable culture to uncover the fantastical. In the RACKROOM Iona Whittaker interviews Tang Yongxiang about his influences, paintings, and how to always create something new. In the EDITIONS Sun and sand, money and art--this week we'll be summering in the Hamptons. Click here to get a free ticket to Art Hamptons, courtesy ofWoolff Gallery! In the SLANT Susan Woodruff's Moments of Nature is popping up at Elisa Contemporary Art Pop Up Gallery in Piermont, NY. Opening July 14, 2-5pm. And the Round #4 Showcase Winners are on display. Drop by and give some art love.

PICKS AND PERSPECTIVES THIS WEEK Craft Services Philadelphia Museum of Art

INTERVIEW WITH TANG YONGXIANG Beijing, June 2012 - “Hide” is the first solo exhibition by Tang Yongxiang. On show at Beijing’s Hemuse Gallery are a series of striking paintings in an unreal vein. Their blue hues and layered com...[more]

THE BUZZ from other SLANT cities Los Angeles Scoli Acosta, Kathryn Andrews , more... New York Josh Faught, Vito Acconci, Leonard Fink , more... London Yoko Ono Amsterdam Ben Akkerman, Carl Andre , more... Paris Robert Crumb Chicago Jessica Stockholder San Francisco Deric Carner India Benode Behari Mukherjee Miami Colin Chillag, Charles LeDray China Yang Jian