Crit Cross #21: Memes As Art Criticism

More honest, more efficient, more direct, more fun – less demanding? Are memes the art criticism of the 2020s? As our exploration of the varieties of criticism in the framework of Crit Cross approaches its seventh year, we are happy to bring Cem A. – who runs the successful artworld meme account freeze_magazine with 164 K followers – to Vienna for a conversation. Our talk will be guided by – what else? – the memes themselves, addressing topics like artworld privilege, politics vs. political art, the coyness of art criticism, unintelligible exhibition texts, conceptual Extractivism, artspeak, career art, what makes for a good joke and the power of memes.

Cem A. is an artist with a background in anthropology. He is known for running the art meme page @freeze_magazine and for his site-specific installations. His work explores topics such as survival and alienation in the art world, often through a hyper-reflexive lens and collaborative projects. He is an artistic advisor to documenta Institut.

Cem A.’s selected solo exhibitions and installations include Louisiana Museum, Barbican Centre, Berlinische Galerie, Grimmwelt Museum and Museum Wiesbaden. His group exhibitions include documenta fifteen and 14. Biennial of Young Artists, Museum of Contemporary Art Skopje. He has held lectures at Royal College of Art, Central Saint Martins, Haus der Elektronischen Künste, HDK Valand, Universität der Künste and Istanbul Modern. He is a member of Hœr NY, a feminist queer and bisexual lesbian art collective.

Crit Cross #21 will take place in English both online and at Depot and be facilitated by Klaus Speidel, an art critic, theorist and curator.

Crit Cross. A Forum on Art Criticism is an open discussion group of current critical writing, organized three times per year by Verein K in Vienna with the aim to create a platform for sustainable art- and sociocritical dialogues in Vienna.