Episode 456

Brian Boucher is an art writer, journalist and critic living in New York, with bylines at publications including the New York Times, New York Magazine, Artnet News, ARTnews, and many others. He previously served as a staff writer and editor at Art in America and a staff writer at Artnet News. He writes about crazy artists' projects (such as when Darren Bader offered his practice for sale), reports on the art market, covers developments in the art education field, and often reports on places where the art world and the wider world intersect, such as the potential cultural impact of the second Trump presidency and how Syrian artists and other cultural figures are looking ahead to a post-Assad era. 

Here, he looks back on some of the shows, events and artworks that moved him in 2024, some of which he wrote about, including Bruce Nauman’s current show at Sperone Westwater, Marlon Mullen’s current show at MoMA, Guillaume Guillon Lethiere’s recent show at the Clark Art Institute, now at the Louvre, Christopher Wool’s recent self-organized show at a disused Lower Manhattan office space, the collective MSCHF’s piece “Met’s Sink of Theseus" in their recent Perrotin show, and some he didn’t write about, like the Maurice Sendak exhibition now at the Denver Art Museum and the Siena exhibition now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

He also talked about some of the live music that turned his crank in 2024, including Soul Coughing, Tigue, and the Jesus Lizard, and looks ahead to the farewell tour of the legendary British punk band Gang of Four.