My first pivotal encounter with text occurred during an unprecedented six or seven months interning at an emerging Viennese art gallery. It was probably there that I realized text was the conduit to understanding contemporary art, offering both access and posing new questions. I went to her course to understand more about art writing and critique, and then I discovered a writing voice within me, bringing me into a new path. Since then, I have been returning almost yearly, a recurring commitment (or am I afraid I will lose the ability to write). This time, I enrolled in the course, intending to analyze my returns. The virtual classroom is once again filled with an eclectic mix of participants – some returning after a hiatus from writing, others joining from another industry that they’ve decided to abandon after decades of being part of it ( even from the financial world), and some participants want to stop writing texts for others and instead want to activate their voice. After each class, I meditate and reflect, and I understand that I’m here because I’m curious about what she reads, her last books, the authors she has been encountering, and the sentences she has selected for sharing with us. I know that I probably will end up buying a good part of this pillow list as An labels it. After class one, I immediately ordered T.J. Clark and „The Sight of Death. “I like to see how afraid he is sometimes that tomorrow, he will not be able to keep describing new elements of the paintings he had chosen to write each day. I also like to think about the life of Carla Lonzi, who, after successful years, decided to quit art writing. Also, Bob Dylan acknowledged that writing is magic, and there can come a moment when you lose it. At the end of course no 4 (January 2024) I wish that a day I also quit writing. Maybe it is just a desire till this happens, or if, I guess, I want to experiment further. I want to continue genuinely seeing and feeling the art of those artists I work with, akin to T.J. Clark’s approach or Hilton Als, or Eileen Myles. I got to know many of these nuances only through her courses. When you start writing, you never know where you will land, – says An during our last class.
An Paenhuysen is an independent curator, writer, art critic, and lecturer based in Berlin. For three years she was the director of ‚The House of The Deadly Doris‘, organising events to activate its 1980s punk archive. An publishes her writing in her project AAAAA PPPP, Spike Magazine, Contemporary And, Sotheby’s, Berlin Art Link, and Les Nouveaux Riches. Her love and understanding for art critique she shares with students of NODE Curatorial Studies since 2015. Every day, she dedicates time to mastering the Italian language, and warms up with a coffee cup writing exercise. Currently, she is teaching Creative Art Criticism and Writing at Node School for Curatorial Studies and in Mai Art Criticism and Writing.
