Roberta Smith has an interesting piece on theanyspacewhatsoever show at the Guggenheim, rightly questioning why it is comprised of, "a group of the usual suspects," who seem to show up in blockbuster contemporary museum shows frequently. Looks like a fine show that we've seen many times before in London and even Portland way back in 2000. Maybe with "Change" being the active term in this election cycle the art world will be forced to find some new names in the Post-Bush era?

Also in the NYT's Holland Carter calls Miro an artistic "serial murder"... I don't buy that, he seems more like a satirist of human ideologies and habits... kind of the Steve Martin of Spanish modernists, it's definitely physical comedy with a flair for the philosophical. Miro's work could have easily said, "Wellllllll EXC-ccc-CCC-UUUUUSE MEEEEEEEEEEEE!" while wearing an arrow through the head hat while playing the banjo.

A lot of so called "balanced" journalists try to make it seem like the sky is falling (panic is good for selling dead trees... hmm?) so it's good that Tyler Green pops a few of the WSJ's doom balloons in his discussion of museum economics in these erratic financial times today. (I'll discuss local economics next week) To be sure some institutions are going to be challenged (especially SAM which partnered with Washington Mutual) but institutions like the Portland Art Museum saw this coming (and likewise so did most of their major patrons).