Negative Review Brings Accusations of Sexism.

Michelle Grabner is a bit of an art celebrity in Milwaukee (especially following her curation of the last Whitney Biennial) so it's no surprise to see the local scene playing defense to a negative critique....but a recent negative review, namely the use of the term "soccer mom", has a some calling the critic a mysognist and has many outraged over perceived sexism displayed openly in the New York Times.

The original review...
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/24/arts/design/michelle-grabner.html

The local reaction...
http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/arts/new-york-times-critic-calls-michelle-grabner-a-soccer-mom-with-bland-art-in-lazy-review-b99379195z1-280571462.html

Worthy of note is the fact that Ken Johnson, the critic in question, has been in a bit of hot water over sexist and racist accusations before...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/29/ken-johnson-new-york-times-art-critic-racist-sexist_n_2213563.html

and lastly, another review of the show published before the review in question...
http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/1056839/parts-and-labor-michelle-grabner-gets-to-work

Interesting to note both articles, the "sexist" article and the earlier from ArtInfo, seem to comment on the "domestic" aspects of the work, the fact that being midwestern is an important aspect of her career, that she's interested in boredom (bland is different but not that far a stretch), and even includes the following quote from Grabner herself...

“I was really drawn to patterns in my domestic middle-class lifestyle: The blankets that the kids were swaddled in,” she said. More recently, she “wanted to revisit that same kind of domestic patterning, but without the nostalgia.”

So, by the artists definition, her work is, to some extent, linked to her "domestic middle-class lifestyle"...Obviously, the tone of the articles is completely different from one another, but interesting to note the similarities as well...

What do you think?

and a follow-up from Mary  Louise Schumacher on why she thinks Grabner and her work deserve better...
http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/arts/michelle-grabners-alternative-art-world-is-worth-some-scrutiny-b99380055z1-280693192.html#