We’ve already documented the presence of Nashville artists at the Venice Biennale, but there’s even more Nashville-related international art news: Jack White opened an exhibition at Damien Hirst's Newport Street Gallery in London last week.
White’s show is titled These Thoughts May Disappear, and it’s up through Sept. 13. Reviews are still coming in, and so far they’re a mix of timidly critical features that center interviews with the artist, and online diatribes that point at the downfall of culture. Either way, they’re fun to read! Here’s a running list of my favorite reviews so far.
This Instagram Reel from Jeff Magid has the right stance on the outrage of art insiders. It reminds me of a (possibly apocryphal) story my mom used to tell me about how, when people complained that Linda McCartney was in Wings only because she was married to Paul, she responded with something like: “If Paul McCartney asks you to sing on his album, you do it.”
María Magdalena Campos-Pons provides a direct line from Nashville to the internationally imperative event
This story from Wallpaper is more of an interview than a review, which is a way a lot of publications get around being overtly critical. It also presents Jack White as a risk-taker who is always willing to experiment. “White approaches his art as he does his music — he doesn’t know what will happen with the found materials he collects, but he steps back and allows them to come to life. ‘You set up a room, and you bring in the materials, and you get out of the way. Get your ego out of the way, get any of your hang-ups out of the way, and let it happen.’”
ArtNews begins its feature through a critical lens, but starts to backpedal before the first sentence is even finished: “At first glance, White’s artworks are gaudy, Tim Burton-esque inventions, but they invite closer looking.”
Seema Rao is a former museum worker who publishes criticism under the name ArtLust. She's long had one of my favorite social media accounts for cutting, academically informed takes on art, and this one didn’t disappoint.
Rao posted a follow-up on Substack about all the hate mail she got from Jack White fans due to her criticism: "One commenter needed my credentials because if I was just an influencer my opinion didn’t matter. Another person informed me art is subjective. Still a third stan said anyone has the right to make art. Yet another decided critique was equivalent to hate."
