The Chicago Reader has not yet printed (though I believe they are going to-) my response to Victor Cassidy's hilariously inaccurate piece of attempted slander. This guy has got to go. I'd say feed him to the sharks, but I am a shark! Have a little compassion for the apex predator deluxe of the high seas! Considering this guy seems to have all of the raging intellect of your average hostess twinkie, and given that we denizens of Shark Alley here at the Farallons happen to possess discriminating palettes, anything with the brain of a toxic cupcake probably isn't going to be a big hit.
Consider this the opening salvo of what shall be a prolonged and serious attack on certain 'critics' here in Chicago. Lets face it: the state of art criticism here....how completely rancid and awful is it? With their Chicago Area Critics Association proudly referred to as 'CACA'....isn't it fair to say no matter how breath-takingly stupid one wanted to come off, you couldn't make this kind of stuff up....which, begs the question,,....WHY DO THE ARTISTS HERE PUT UP WITH THIS MORONIC JUNK? WHY IS THERE NO QUESTIONING OF AUTHORITY? WHY DO ARTISTS HERE IN CHICAGO NOT INSIST ON AN UPGRADE IN AS FAR AS ART CRITICS ARE CONCERNED- ALONG WITH MORE THAN ONE CRUMMY REVIEW PER ISSUE FROM ARTFORUM/ ART IN AMERICA? WHY HAVE WE NOT DEMANDED THAT ART IN AMERICA GIVE BOTH VICTOR CASSIDY AND THE EQUALLY UNFORTUNATE SUSAN SNODGRASS THEIR RESPECTIVE PINK SLIPS? WHATS WRONG PEOPLE?... AFRAID OF A BAD REVIEW FROM AN IDIOT? As long as we tolerate this crap, we're getting just what we deserve.
There are a few decent ones -The Shark's old nemesis Alan Artner can on occasion be quite good, and Kevin Nance is not just a breath of fresh salt water and a terrific writer, but an excellent reporter who is dilligent, smart in his interviews and research and as an additional bonus, actually seems concerned with accuracy. Lets put it this way - Kevin recently encountered The Shark like no one else has done to date, and lived to tell the story. I suggest we support and acknowledge what is good, and attack with the idea of ridding ourselves, of what is not.
In his letter to the editor Victor Cassidy begins with a critique of the Reader, questioning the professionalism of its reporters. He states, and I quote:
“I wonder—does the Chicago Reader have a clip file? Do your reporters ever consult it before they go out on interviews...A few years ago you reported Kimler was leaving for Los Angeles because Chicago was such a horrible place for artists. He denounced everyone in sight, stormed off, and returned 18 months later with his tail between his legs.”
Uuuuuhhhh Victor, you have a little problem: The one time I left Chicago and moved to Los Angeles was almost two decades ago. I moved there in 1987 and returned after five years in 1992. OOPS! Don’t you think if you are going to lecture the Reader on their professionalism it might be a good idea to know what you are talking about? I mean, where do you get this stuff? Do you just kind of make it up as you go along?
Returned with tail between my legs? Hmmmmmmm - in the time I did live in Los Angeles I did two exhibitions with what was then, probably the finest gallery there, LA Louver - running concurrently with any number of exhibitions up in San Francisco. I can’t honestly call the Louver exhibitions sold out shows, as there was one painting left from the first, and some of the work from the second didn’t sell until the month after the show came down and then, only one of the shows was singled out as pick of the week in the LA Weekly…….damn! That must be what you are referring to!
While we are on the subject, perhaps Mr. Cassidy would like to explain exactly how he invisions The Shark or any shark for that matter, having his 'tail' between his uuhhmmm, 'legs'.... Obviously Victor with his creative way with the facts -born no doubt from the depths of that monster intellect he's packing, is a proponent of some exotic variant upon the idea of Intelligent Design.
For your information Victor, the last time the Reader wrote anything in depth on me was Jeff Huebner’s cover article Kimler’s Complaint (June 26, 1998) which is definitely not an article about my moving to LA. You see Victor, the Chicago Reader, as anybody who has worked with them would know, does this thing called fact checking - a good reason why aside from in letters to the editor, your writing probably wouldn’t see the light of day – which (and here is the good news for you, and the unfortunate news for artists here) immediately qualifies you to be yet another third rate ‘art critic,’ in other words, a card carrying member of CACA (Chicago Area Critics Association) pronounced as it’s spelled. Relax Mr. Cassidy – you and your fellow ‘CACA’ members can take some small satisfaction in knowing that with your completely perfect name, you have at least succeeded in giving shit a bad name.
On a more serious note, where in Deanna Isaacs article do I ever get into what Paul Klein has done, or not done for the art world here? I simply state that he took my ideas, absconded with them, and then, having dumbed-down, presented them as his own, threatening me with the loss of one of the McCormick commissions if I made waves. And by the way, the McCormick people gave commissions (as required by the 1% law) to Chicago artists, not Paul Klein, who for better or worse was a consultant. It is also interesting to note that no one, to the best of my knowledge, has yet to receive a dime. I personally declined the honor and consider the $35k I turned down as money well spent.
As for Paul’s explanation of his attempt at blackemailing me, the Reader had asked me for that email and I, wanting to take the high road, at first refused. That is, until I read Paul’s lame and fake excuses. When it comes to my sharing opinions via the Reader, if you don’t want to know what I think Victor, DON’T READ IT! Sheeeesh! What planet is this clown from? Keep in mind fellow artists – this is what we are stuck with when it comes to art criticism.
Mr. Cassidy then goes on to ‘defend’ Paul Klein by basically describing what a poor idea his bricks and mortar museum idea is, which is exactly my contention, and then states that what is needed is a new magazine; precisely what Sharkforum is. I think people should really decide for themselves: have a look around Sharkforum.org, look at the site, see what we are trying to do. See who our editors are, and then consider whether or not the Reader coverage was appropriate.
Wesley Kimler
btw I actually had an email conversation with this clown -who never apologized for his amazingly poor letter -and then stated that I used to be a really good artist - apparently thinking that since I now blog, I no longer paint....I know - how flat out dumb is this guy, right?...after sending him images.....Mr. Cassidy remarked that he was unfamiliar with the work I am making - duh......and that if The Shark was to do an exhibition at a gallery, he would make a point of coming...........WOW!......is that a promise Victor? Really!!!??????? Does this guy actually think The Shark would want him writing about his royal fishness?