THE ARTIST? OR THE ACADEMIC?

Sweet optimism is in short supply these days. Foresight no longer telescopes a decade. We can't think further than a few days into the future, as manmade catastrophes limit our vision and action.

In a recent article, we answer a cute question "Who's more important? The artist or the gallerist?" (Click Here. Artist Lari Pittman saves the day.)

Climbing out of the art world economic rubble, I'd like to ask a more important question with bite, "Who's more important? The artist or the academic?"

No one wants to answer that hot potato. Art academia is a multi-billion dollar industry with many sucklings. I will leave it at that. For now.

TRANSCENDENCE

We artists are an envious breed. But not the ugly green kind. I define it as deep admiration and respect.

Our section this week, 'Transcendence,' introduces Aaron Glasson, a new pony in the Roberts Projects stable. This busy artist had been off my radar. He is part of a very old, very cool, modernist school.

VEGAS, MODERNITY and THE ARTS

Las Vegas is a land of imports. Robert Venturi and his band of sophisticated Yale architects turned the elite eyes of the world to the city in 1972 with their acclaimed book "Learning from Las Vegas."

A few decades later, we now have a sociologist snooping around, again from the ivy-walled East Coast. I am very glad he is here. In today's issue, I suggest the smart minds read "Vegas, Modernity, and the Arts," an interview by Vegas scribe Scott Dickensheets. University of Virginia professor Isaac Ariail Reed makes some astounding and insightful statements.

LYNDA BENGLIS, DIOR and ROSAMUND FELSEN

Also in our curated collection today, we have a news bit on artist Lynda Benglis and her influence upon a new Dior collection. Whoa. As an accompaniment, I am compelled to share a great tale about young Benglis installing her show at Rosamund Felsen in 1987. The piece was written by LA artist James Hayward, who is now smiling down at us from heaven. Though, there is a good chance, he may be somewhere else looking up.

SURVIVALIST

Today, everyone is wringing their hands when they're not pulling out their hair. Driving a gas powered automobile is now a luxury for the very rich. At the supermarket, we no longer buy what we desire, but what we need. Ad nauseam.

Deep breaths. Deep breaths. Exhale slowly.

Common sense. Practical. Think like an efficient engineer. It is the only way to dim the howling of our mad days.

Art Report Today .com