maybe it's a mistake to pretend that this provincial part of the country has any cultural relevance in a national or global scale?

There are probably artists with NW ties, i.e. people that left to go to NY or elsewhere. Not too many supremely talented artists stick around the NW. So find out who is from the PNW.

The whatney biwhat now?

Vincent Gallo? Oi.

@2: Right this minute and off the top of my head from Seattle I'd add Jenny Heishman, Free Sheep Foundation, Amanda Manitach, Jeffry Mitchell, Dawn Cerny, Sol Hashemi, Matt Browning, Carolina Silva, Alwyn O'Brien...

Hey, it's not like the West is 50 percent of the US GDP or has more than 25 percent of US population ...

Oh.

Wait.

art establishment as echo chamber. this is news?

Yes @4, Oscar Tuazon. And I'm not sure which Portland artist you consider "weak," Jessica Jackson Hutchins or Storm Tharp or MK Guth? Or Maybe Harrell Fletcher? All in recent Biennials. So much is overlooked by every Whitney Biennial. You're right to point out their dumb Dudism. But I don't think geography is the worst or principal blinder here.

Yes, down here in Shmortland we are obliged to read SLOG for any news of the world. Occasionally our overlords at The Mercury deign to repost the latest revelations on their repost service, BLOGTOWN. Strangely, Jen's posts aren't picked as often as Paul Constant's or Eli's. Jen, is something amiss with your contract? I'd love to see more of your posts down here. I'd love to see you cover Portland. We could use it!

"It's snowing still," said Eeyore gloomily. "So it is." "And freezing." "Is it?" "Yes," said Eeyore. "However," he said, brightening up a little, "we haven't had an earthquake lately." ~ A.A. Milne

Yes Jen, it's interesting that you shit on the Whitney for ignoring NW artists, yet Portland seems to be very much rrecognized. And why is it we don't hear more about these artists from you in your quest to put us "on the map"? Dont they give you enough"love" down there big fish?

@18, somehow you manage to make it all so ugly. Just to clarify, I like Jen's work, it's been a great addition to the mix in Portland, when it's in the mix. I want more, and I want it researched and detailed. I'm also making Quixotic, repeated efforts to get The Mercury to discuss and hopefully reverse it's policy of filler-ing BLOGTOWN with slightly tweaked re-posts from Seattle. The other day we got Eli's pithy "Could a Korean Missile Hit Seattle?" tossed back up on BLOGTOWN as "Could a Korean Missile Hit Portland?" Why would Eli care? In any case, hooray Jen! And booooo lazy franchising-out of generic SLOGishness to the rest of us.

Matthew: Hi! The "weak" artist I'm thinking of is MK Guth, but I agree that JJH is strong; I had forgotten her. (This isn't a new slam/praisefest—I've written all this before.)

It's bizarre that the Merc picks up some posts but others. I actually didn't know that. I will ask around and try to figure that out. We don't have contracts as writers here, so it's nothing to do with that, as far as I know. Probably more to do with the fact that art writing is just less popular. But -- an interesting question would be, how would my Slogging change if I thought of myself as writing for both Portland and Seattle? That hasn't been in my brain, but maybe it would add a dimension. In some ways, I'm not poised to be a regional critic -- just don't spend enough time on the road, and there's no budget for that. But...it definitely gives me something to think about.

vincent. fucking. gallo.

To me, what's interesting about this Biennial is how short the artist list is: 51, down from over 100 some years. And many of the artists on the list are performers or filmmakers, who will share a single large space hosting their performances and screenings. This means that the few artists presenting work in the museum will have a lot more space. Bad for artists in general--fewer made the cut--but great for viewers who want to get a sense of any particular artist's work from the show.

Including Vincent Gallo in any show other than one titled "Raging Narcissists in Film, 1985 to present," however, is inexplicable.

Artists do not represent geographic areas like politicians. If you want better representation for artists from your corner of the world then make some noise for them you idiot. Regardless of whether there are great artists working here the scene itself is anemic. Anyone who has traveled around just a little could see this. Whiner.

I guess Buffalo produced a better artist than the entire Northwest could

Cameron Crawford is from Seattle, WA.

What a socialist comment. Obama has really screwed things up

One of my favorite artists in the world is performing and making wildly free, intimate, personal sounds and other creations out of rural Maine. Another such visual artist is deep in the hills of western North Carolina. Talk about regions ignored by the likes of the Whitney.. And selfishly I hope these particular artists never become discovered by the Whitney and its ilk (they're not exactly "trying" to get there).. because what makes these artists so inspiring to me personally, is how very free their work is, how they're able to create exactly what they want... with their own "symbols and magic".... how could the Whitney not, to some extent, replace such worlds with its own mark and context?

I'm asking what the WhiBi is a measure of, why it matters to so many of us as artists.. and I feel it's certainly no measure of the intention behind an artist's work.

I'd also suppose that the recognition of Seattle art beyond Seattle might be proportionate to the Seattle community's effort to engage outside itself.. This is mere personal impression, but I've been really aware of my status as an outsider in Seattle's artworld- in a way that I haven't been in other cities where I've worked/lived. That's not to say there aren't some good conversations here that I'd love to have. I respect your list in comment #7.

Eric F, Vincent Gallo work is not self glorifying. His film characters are not winners or heroic. He simply does most tasks required to make a film himself. You're confusing a self made, independent, extremely hard working and self sufficient man with a narcissist. He should not rub you the wrong way unless you are suffering your own complexes.