ARTISTS may moan in private about critics, and critics about artists, but bring both groups together in a civilised forum and the outcome is surprisingly muted.
The three hour debate on art criticism in Temple Bar Gallery on Saturday was generally constructive rather than adversarial in tone. Among those attending were artists, art critics, curators and lecturers, who discussed the relationship between art and "art writing" a term favoured by many of the speakers because it includes the possibility of artists and non-critics writing about art.
Chaired by the Arts Council's Visual Arts Officer, Ms Sarah Finlay, the initial presentations by the six panelists raised a number of points which were reiterated in different ways throughout the discussion that followed the dearth of opportunities and outlets for writing about art the constraints of the newspaper art review the need to encourage art history students to engage with and write about contemporary art, and the need to develop alternatives to the conventional exhibition catalogue.
This was described by the Director of the Irish Museum of Modern art, Mr Decian McGonagle, as "the great unbought, unread publication of our time",
He described most art writing in Ireland as "extremely weak and ill informed", but defended the essential role of criticism in examining the context of a work of art. "Art work needs a coherent body of critical writing attached to it, but this writing should test the work, rather than celebrate it."
The preoccupation with philosophical theory which is evident in a lot of art criticism was lamented by a number of speakers, and the question was raised whether criticism was responding to art forms that have, since the 1960s, become increasingly conceptual, or whether artists were making work that mirrors the critics emphasis on theoretical concepts.
The distinction between the longer, more considered reviews and essays published in a magazine such as Circa and the newspaper review was stressed by the Chief Critic of The Irish Times, Brian Fallon.
"I would not defend the critic for a moment," he added. "He is there to be shot at.
"But being a critic is not an easy job. You make enemies, you are misquoted and misunderstood. It is also very difficult to write well about visual art, and writing, of course, demands literary skills, a degree of scholarship and knowledge and a mastery of language.
"So much writing about art now uses jargon it is an artspeak that communicates only to the initiates."
He also proposed, to general laughter, that a moratorium on all newspaper art reviewing be introduced to observe its effect, if any on the art world.
In general, however, it was more writing about art that was demanded by Saturday's participants, not less.