What are we gonna do when Roberta Smith stops reviewing art? She has no completion. When the Times reviews four or five current gallery shows on Fridays, the ones she covers all sound like must-sees. Granted her seniority must give her dibs on the best shows but she brings so much more to the work.
Her review of Etel Adnan’s show of recent paintings got me off on a deep dive of Adnan’s poetry and prose. Adnan died in November at 96 and her 2020 book, “Shifting of Silence,” breaks the social taboo on writing and speaking about our own deaths. “Better to admit that with the passing of days we know less about just about everything.”
And covering the sound on sound video artist, Kristin Oppenheim, Smith had me so intrigued I tracked down snippets of Oppenheim’s work on YouTube. While you on YouTube check out Oppenheim’s “Sail On Sailor.” She makes up her own words.