After Decade on Upper East Side, Monthly Forum Relocates to Central Library
Panel’s Brooklyn Debut on February 9 Kicks Off Series of Monthly Events at BPL’s Dweck Center
Brooklyn, NY—Brooklyn Public Library is the new host of the Review Panel, which made its Brooklyn debut last night at Central Library. The acclaimed public forum for critical discussion and debate on contemporary art relocated to the borough after a successful decade at the Upper East Side’s National Academy Museum.
Moderated by David Cohen, editor and publisher of the online art magazine artcritical.com, the Review Panel brings together critics from multiple disciplines to discuss current art exhibitions before a live audience. The series moves art criticism beyond the printed page and transforms a solitary process into a lively cultural event.
"We are privileged to partner with Brooklyn Public Library to bring this dynamic forum of aesthetic debate to the Brooklyn community. It will change the way people think about art criticism,” said David Cohen, editor and publisher of artcritical.com and founder of the Review Panel. “We feel that BPL is the perfect place to ring in our eleventh year."
“The Review Panel presents New York City’s finest critical minds in a public forum that is free and open to all,” said BPL President and CEO Linda E. Johnson. “This is art criticism live and in-process, a rare and accessible glimpse into a sophisticated intellectual enterprise.”
The Review Panel was founded in 2004 and has run continuously at art academies and museums in New York and Philadelphia. The exhibitions to be discussed, usually four per evening, are announced in advance to give audiences the opportunity to visit them.
At the series’ Brooklyn debut on February 9, panelists discussed two Brooklyn and two Manhattan exhibitions: Katherine Bradford's Fear of Waves and Elizabeth Kley's Ozymandias, on view at the Lower East Side gallery Canada; Charles Harlan's Flood, at Pioneerworks, in Red Hook; and Glenn Ligon's We Need to Wake Up Cause That’s What Time It Is, showing at Luhring Augustine in Bushwick.
Participants in the Review Panel’s inaugural BPL panel included New York Times co-chief art critic Roberta Smith, author Siri Hustvedt and Brooklyn-based artist and writer Alexi Worth.
The Review Panel will meet monthly in the Dweck Center at Brooklyn Public Library’s Central Library from September to June. Admission is free.
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About Brooklyn Public Library
Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) is an independent library system for the 2.5 million residents of Brooklyn. It is the fifth largest library system in the United States with 60 neighborhood libraries located throughout the borough. BPL offers free programs and services for all ages and stages of life, including a large selection of books in more than 30 languages, author talks, literacy programs and public computers. BPL’s eResources, such as eBooks and eVideos, catalog information and free homework help, are available to customers of all ages 24 hours a day at our website: www.bklynlibrary.org.
About The Review Panel
The Review Panel is a public program of live criticism in the visual arts. Typically meeting on a monthly basis during the art season/academic year (September through May), the panel brings together three guest critics and moderator David Cohen, editor of artcritical.com, for off the cuff discussion of current exhibitions of contemporary art. The shows under consideration are announced in advance, allowing the audience to see them and participate in the debate. Video of the exhibitions is used to promote the event on social media and to present visuals during the evening. The event is recorded for later podcast and could potentially also be available for live streaming.