FOLK'S ART.(Art:21--Art in the Twenty-First Century)(Review)

Peter Plagens

You can just hear 'em at the story meeting: "Look, what we want to do here is demystify these artists. We gotta make them regular, friendly folks. None of this wrestling with art-historical forebears crap, none of that B.S. theory. And above all, no authoritarian narrator telling the audience what to think." The silence of no basso pro fundo voice-over from Robert Hughes on Art:21--Art in the Twenty-First Century, PBS's four-episode look at twenty-one contemporary artists debuting September 21, is almost deafening.

An opening segment--hosted by Steve ...

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