New feature: On Artforum and MeToo
My piece on Artforum's new editor David Velasco in Columbia Journalism Review.
Sending out a short note to let you know that I just had a feature published in Columbia Journalism Review, linked below:
The Decisive Moment: A new editor deals with the aftermath of Artforum’s #MeToo scandal
It’s a profile of David Velasco, the former web editor of Artforum, who became editor in late 2017 when one of the magazine’s publishers, Knight Landesman, resigned over a sexual harassment lawsuit and the previous editor, Michelle Kuo, resigned as well. The magazine faced a precarious moment as galleries pulled ads and staff left. Velasco faces the dilemma of how to move the magazine forward while the lawsuit is ongoing and the art world continues an uneasy silence. Can the institution prove it still deserves the trust of its readers, writers, and editors?
A key reference point for this piece is Janet Malcolm’s famous profile of the late Artforum editor Ingrid Sischy, who took over the magazine in the ‘80s when she was just 27 and overhauled its identity. The profile’s title is “A Girl of the Zeitgeist” and you should definitely read it. It’s also printed in Malcolm’s book 41 False Starts.
I would love to know what you think of the piece. More short essays on technology and culture forthcoming very soon.