Crit Cross #30

Art Criticism in the Age of Institutions and Markets
Pierre d’Alancaisez in conversation with Walter Seidl

How can art criticism maintain its independence and critical distance within these structures? What does it mean to practise art criticism today, and how can it continue to offer rigorous, independent perspectives rather than simply reinforce the existing structures of the art world?

Since the 1990s, art criticism in the UK has been increasingly shaped by market forces, curatorial practices and institutional frameworks, often blurring the boundaries between criticism and promotion. At the same time, globalisation and the expansion of contemporary art have challenged established critical models, calling for approaches that engage with a wider range of cultural and political contexts.

Join us this November as we warmly welcome

Pierre d’Alancaisez (UK) – writer, critic, researcher working with the multiple politics of art. In 2024, he founded Verdurin, a space for experimentation in aesthetics, learning, and the difficult conversations which drive today’s culture. Pierre has over twenty years’ experience in the arts, having previously directed a contemporary art gallery that tested social and political questions in the art market.

Walter Seidl (Austria) – Artistic director of SPARK Art Vienna, Curator of the Kontakt Collection, President of AICA Austria. He curated numerous exhibition projects throughout Europe, North America, and Japan. His writings include various catalog essays for artist monographs, exhibition reviews, and criticism. Walter contributes to several international art magazines.

Crit Cross. A Forum on Art Criticism is an open discussion platform dedicated to contemporary critical writing, organized three times a year by Verein K since 2018. Its aim is to foster sustained, socially critical dialogue in Vienna through shared reading, discussion, and exchange.

Crit Cross #30 is organized in cooperation with Depot and will take place on site. It will take place both online and at Depot.