(Jag)
Jags now on hiatus. Just don’t use them anymore. (The critical and curatorial sausage-making didn’t help.)
Previous info:
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The most recent Jag can be found near the top of the homepage.
What’s the Jag?
There are many great art cities because of their museums. What sets NY apart are the hundreds of galleries. But sorting through all the shows is a task. The Jag does two things:
1. Identifies the shows with critical buzz.
2. Organizes them geographically.
A metacritic kind of thing.
Why?
Someone saw our system and said that oughta be online.
How do I use it?
Go to the homepage and click on the latest “Jag” to open the html version. Alternatively, download the xls file and bring it up with Excel or somesuch to ease printing.
How often is it updated?
Usually Fridays.
I don’t want to have to keep checking the site until then.
Hit the RSS feed button to be notified when a new one is up.
Straightforward concept. Must’ve been done.
Not to our knowledge. The various publications probably think their own listings provide a sufficient overview. They have a point. The gallery organizations probably feel all of their members have notable shows. They have a point.
“Identifies the shows with critical buzz” — how’s that work?
By using the listings from the following publications: NYer, NYT, TONY, NY, VV, NYO, CNY, AF, AiA, artnet, artinfo, AN, CA, L, WSJ, FT, NW, T, TNC, and occasional items from other places, eg TNR, NYRB, Nation, E and G.
There’s a great show, but not many stars for it. Lousy system.
Don’t rely on the multiple listings column too much. Even the best-received shows can get reviewed at the end of their run. It takes a while for the critics to find their way to it, then there’s a lag before it gets into print.
All the best reviewed stuff is at the museums. So I’ll focus there.
Again, the system is imperfect. Gallery shows are only up for only about a month, while museum shows are usually up for three, and invariably collect more notices. Museum stuff lingers on the list and is over-represented.
Why are auctions included? No one else does.
Price tags and market curation can be tacky. But that’s not the art’s fault. Much of it is incredible and otherwise unseen. And though more discreet, galleries (and museums) certainly have their own commercial aspect.
“Organizes them geographically” — how’s that work?
Constant tinkering. Right now there are four broad areas that fit on four pages …
1) ~downtown
2) ~chelsea
3) ~midtown
4) ~uptown
… broken down into eleven groups …
a. Financial > LES > East Village
b. SoHo > Village
c. Tribeca > West Village > Chelsea
d. East Midtown
e. West Midtown
f. Queens
g. Brooklyn
h. Staten Island
i. UWS
j. 57th Street > UES > Harlem > northern Manhattan
k. Bronx
What are the boundaries between each group?
Constant tinkering. Defining Soho/Village is key. Right now it is: Chambers, Bowery, 14thSt, 6thAve/WBroadway. The others flow from there.
Where’s the review for that killer Aldrich show?
Just the boroughs.
I’d rather just hit the galleries in an area.
Use the List.
Is photography allowed?
Never! The point is to look at pictures, not take them. Don’t even ask about flash, which should trigger automatic confiscation and expulsion. Hotel-land MoMA is simply a nightmare.
This really is a simple system. A trained monkey could do it.
True that.
Fine. Trained or not, there’s an error.
Contact: info@…