Proving that everything is and probably should be co-optable, Adam Lindemann pens an affectionate Gallerist piece on the art world and Instagram. Lindemann describes the context-less service as the perfect venue for today’s art promotion. More than that, he revels in the opportunity to use the social network for mischief. Naturally, vilifying every art world figure quickly becomes a badge of honor (you mean you’re not important enough to be mocked on Instagram?)
By now you are probably wondering what I post on Instagram. The answer is, nothing. I have an account, but haven’t posted a single image, satisfying myself instead by writing cheeky little messages on friends’ posts, like when I wrote on Maria Baibakova’s party picture, ”it’s past your bedtime!” or when I tagged a Dan Loeb selfie as “better looking than George Clooney and richer.” In the same way that posting personal pictures on Instagram feels inappropriate and prurient, writing trash talk on the bottom of other people’s pictures is fun. I love it. It’s the scrawl on the bathroom stall, for the iPhone.
My all time favorite Instagrammer is the anonymous “IcallB,” slang for “I call bullshit.” Search for it, and you’ll find art-world luminaries taken to task and called out in a gratuitous, irreverent, anarchic rant. Glenn Lowry and Nick Serota are lampooned in a duel of dryness; the much-loved Paul Schimmel is dubbed “far too enamoured by the sound of his own voice.” Popular art adviser Meredith Darrow is called out as the “guiding light of bad taste.” Susan and Michael Hort, an old-school art-collecting couple, earn the tag “you think you matter but you don’t.”
No one gets away with it on “IcallB.” Sarah Lucas’ show at Gladstone Gallery is “easily one of the worst shows of the year if not the decade,” while David Zwirner gets the comment “feel embarrassed for you.” It’s all just so wrong that it’s right on the money, like when Aaron Curry’s outdoor installation at Lincoln Center is tagged “look what shat on Lincoln Center” and popular performance artist Tino Sehgal is called out as “bullshit performance for soccer moms.” No one is spared—not even yours truly. A picture of this very writer was posted in IcallB and captioned “Venus over my Ass,” a reference to my gallery Venus over Manhattan. What nerve!
The Art World’s Instant Grammification (Gallerist)
