It was the Chilean art historian Ignacio Szmulewicz who told me about the art blogging scene in Chile. He writes for Arte y critica, a printed art magazine in Chile, but there is also the digital art magazine Artishock, which uses blog-format. And, Ignacio said, there are a few critics with a blog like Carolina Castro Jorquera. I found out that Carolina is now living in Madrid, where she's working on her PhD in Art History. Meanwhile she continues to blog on her website CrÃtica de Arte Contemporáneo, and Chile is still very present in her writing.
Art scene
"I´m Chilean but I have been living in Madrid for the last 6 years. The scene here has changed a lot in the last 4 years, probably because of the crisis, but also because a change was needed. Today you can find a great offer of alternative spaces leading the scene. It´s great to see how young and older artists become closer, colleagues, and they can work and exhibit together. These new spaces allowed this to happen.
I think we can define two scenes, the comercial galleries and the alternative spaces. The first ones are deeply involved in the art world on their own, the second ones are involved in a more indirect way because of the artists they work with. The artist are the ones who act as agents.
The Madrid art scene today is characterised by a collaboration between agents, curators, artista, gallerists, etc. And a completely new kind of art discourse. They are redefining their interests.
If I can choose movements that are characterizing the current scene, they would be: Conceptualism, Povera, and a sort of new-manierism."
Blog
"I started the blog because I was writing for severals magazines, and a blog was a good idea to bring all those articles together. Also because sometimes I like to write some review that could be difficult to feature in an art magazine, so I´m free to publish them on my own site.
What do I like about blogging? It´s a good question. I think I like to share my thoughts.
And it's is a fact: You can help yourself and emerging artists to have a wider visibility.
I'm not connected to other bloggers at the moment, but I would like to do so!"
Expertise
"I'm an art historian, preparing my dissertation. So writing and researching are my best skills. I'm also a curator, I work as an art critic, and I do a lot of research."
Money
"No, I don't monetise my blog, but it would be great to have that chance! What brings in value is that the most of the articles I have written are published in magazines or other kind of publications, as catalogues, or books, and they pay me for that. Then the blog is more a way to share those texts to a wider audience."