David Lee (art critic)

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David Lee (born 1953) is an outspoken English contemporary art critic—condemning conceptual art in general and the Turner Prize in particular. He publishes and edits The Jackdaw magazine, critical of the contemporary art world.

Career

David Lee was editor of Art Review magazine, but left to found his own satirical, opinionated, often vitriolic, magazine The Jackdaw to continue his campaign at what he sees as unacceptable standards in the art world. The Jackdaw was founded in 2000, and is published six times a year.^[1]

Lee took with him from Art Review a section titled "Artbollocks", where Lee reprints what he considers to be nonsensical and pretentious use of language by critics, galleries and artists, when describing art.

He has been linked with the Stuckists art movement because of their similar response to the Young British Artists, the Turner Prize and conceptual art. However, he is equally opposed to their art and, when the Stuckists offered a donation of work to the Tate Gallery, he declared: "If the Tate accepts these ridiculous daubs The Jackdaw will dance naked – except for his favourite swastika armband – down Whitehall singing Mamma Mia."^[2]

He called the Charles Saatchi's New Blood exhibition in 2004, "an assortment of tricks and stunts that was promoted with desperation and hitherto unsuspected tastelessness ... He promoted a rotten, talentless painter called Stella Vine to public notoriety".^[3]

Lee acted as "an independent art critic" for a task in the British 'Big Brother' TV show, broadcast 2 July 2009, where he judged three pieces, two of which were done by housemates and the third by a six-year-old child. Though Lee was told all three were by housemates, he still judged the six-year-old's the worst.

Lee has been one of the three judges on the BBC2 art series, Show Me the Monet.^[4]

Notes and references

^ 'The Magazine', The Jackdaw. Retrieved January 27, 2015
^ "Daubs and Daubers", stuckism.com Retrieved April 3, 2006
^ Owen, Paul. "From the art publications", The Guardian, 14 July 2004. Retrieved 8 August 2008.
^ Show Me the Monet, BBC website. Retrieved 11 February 2013.

External links

v t e Young British Artists
Artists	Fiona Banner Henry Bond Christine Borland Glenn Brown Angela Bulloch Jake and Dinos Chapman Adam Chodzko Mat Collishaw Ian Davenport Tacita Dean Tracey Emin Angus Fairhurst Nick Fudge Anya Gallaccio Liam Gillick Douglas Gordon Marcus Harvey Damien Hirst Gary Hume Michael Landy Abigail Lane Chris Ofili Sarah Lucas Stephen Park Richard Patterson Simon Patterson Steven Pippin Marc Quinn Fiona Rae Alessandro Raho Jenny Saville Georgina Starr Sam Taylor-Johnson Gavin Turk Gillian Wearing Rachel Whiteread Jane and Louise Wilson
Teachers	Basil Beattie Helen Chadwick Michael Craig-Martin Ian Jeffrey Jon Thompson Mark Wallinger Richard Wentworth
Influences	Art & Language Art in Ruins Conceptual art Gilbert & George Jeff Koons John Stezaker Andy Warhol Lawrence Weiner
Artworks	24 Hour Psycho Break Down Bullet Hole Documents Series Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963–1995 For the Love of God House My Bed Myra No Woman No Cry 26 October 1993 The Upper Room Tense The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living
Shows	Brilliant! East Country Yard Show Freeze Modern Medicine Sensation
Curators	Joshua Compston Carl Freedman Gregor Muir Norman Rosenthal Jon Thompson
Galleries	Anthony d'Offay Gallery Curtain Road Arts City Racing Gagosian Gallery Karsten Schubert Gallery Lisson Gallery Maureen Paley Saatchi Gallery Sadie Coles HQ South London Gallery Victoria Miro Gallery White Cube
Collectors	Bernard Arnault Janet Wolfson de Botton Eli Broad Frank Cohen Steven A. Cohen Dakis Joannou Pauline Karpidas George Michael Jose Mugrabi François Pinault Miuccia Prada Charles Saatchi Jack Wendler Poju and Anita Zabludowicz
Advocates	Louisa Buck Matthew Collings Richard Cork Andrew Graham-Dixon Sarah Kent Stuart Morgan Norman Rosenthal Sir Nicholas Serota Matthew Slotover
Opponents	BANK Billy Childish James Heartfield Matthew Higgs David Lee Brian Sewell Julian Stallabrass Stuckists Charles Thomson
See also	Conceptual art Frieze Art Fair Momart Post-YBAs Turner Prize

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Place of birth missing (living people)