Joel Shapiro's current show at Pace Wildenstein

Art Info has a nice interview with Joel Shapiro, whose work seems to becoming increasingly relevant and central to the age old (some would say pointless) distinction between representation and abstraction in sculpture. I love how his later work seems to activate space through inhabitation. This has always been a key element of his work but in the last few years he's developed that Picasso-like sureness and energy about his efforts. I like it much better than David Smith's Cubi series which I feel were a bit forced (though important). There is nothing forced about this work, Shapiro is the new Giacometti (as our leading existential sculptor).

The New York Times had a bit on starchitects... Is it just me or are the architects today way more progressive and experimental than the artists? Theoretically, artists aren't saddled with the same kinds of compromises and restrictions... so why does someone like Julie Mehretu seem like a side dish compared to the main courses of Gehry, Koolhaas, Hadid, HdM and Libeskind's work? Ive got my own cage match with a starchitect's early work in April 2008 (i.e. a show as an artist not as a curator) so I'm thinking a lot about what artists can do to shape space in ways that architects don't. This PORT review from September gets at some of the issue.

The William Kentridge show ended last weekend but a PORT reader has blogged a really nice take on their experience. Here is Amy's PORT review of the Kentridge show.