Andrew Frost is an art critic, writer and broadcaster. He has been the editor of The Art Life blog since its launch in 2004 and regularly contributes to Guardian Australia
“When my editor suggested that I write a year in review column she cautioned me to take it easy on the bad news. We don’t need to be reminded once more that 2020 has been catastrophic. Make it upbeat. I’ll do my best.”
When Vincent Namatjira won the 2020 Archibald Prize for portraiture for Stand strong for who you are, his painting of AFL player Adam Goodes, there was a widely held feeling that justice had been done.
“We must fight, and we must resist, and we will win again as we have done before.”
In his third session On the Couch, Andrew Frost admires the survival strategies of artists in the face of both actual catastrophes and crippling ennui.
Like many of us, Andrew Frost is spending a lot of time literally on the couch clutching his phone. He contemplates the valuable generosity of both sharing and creating culture on social media, making the world a tiny bit better.
The first piece in Art Guide’s new ongoing series, On The Couch with Andrew Frost, is custom built for social distancing.
If you’ve been around the art world for awhile, it’s easy to forget that a lot of people can still find the whole thing intimidating.
Let me begin with an anecdote to open this review, which is only marginally relevant to what is to follow. You’ll like this because when I finally come back to the subject you’ll go, ‘…oooh, clever!’
Frankly, living artists are a bore. I prefer dead artists.
God this is tedious, my wife observed, and I had to agree – what is with Australia’s obsession with art? Everywhere you look in the media it’s art, art, art.
“Celebrities are our sun gods and we don’t really need to see them brought down to our level by ill-advised forays into art. I, for one, accept my celebrity overlords but I’d prefer them to stay where they are.”
“It was blunt but to the point: is the art world full of posers? I had to think about that for a second…”
