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Amei Wallach

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Amei Wallach is an American filmmaker, art critic journalist, and author from New York.[1] Her documentaries profiling artists include: Louise Bourgeois: The Spider, The Mistress and the Tangerine (2008), Ilya and Emilia Kabakov: Enter Here (2013), and Taking Venice (release date May 17, 2024) .[2][3] Her writings have appeared in the New York Times, Smithsonian, Vanity Fair, and Art in America, and numerous publications. From 2000 to 2005, Wallach served as president of the U.S. Section of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA/USA).

Early life and education

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Amei Wallach was raised in Goshen, Connecticut by German-Jewish immigrants.[4][5]

Wallach graduated from the George School, a private boarding high school, in Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.[4] Wallach attended the University of Chicago, withdrew to pursue acting in New York, and completed her Bachelor of Science at the Columbia University School of General Studies.[6]

Family

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Her mother Gerda Wilhelmina Lewenz (April 7, 1915 – October 12, 2000) was born in Berlin, Germany in the middle of World War I.[7] Both sides of Gerda's family were "prominent" Jewish bankers.[7] Gerda was "deeply" involved in the German peace movement and was a peace activist the rest of her life.[7] Dinner table contests took place over who was the greatest writer, Shakespeare or Goethe; all of her children would become researchers, and published authors.[7] Gerda studied art history in Florence, Italy; in the U.S. she would own the Litchfield Gallery, and continued to curate art shows throughout her life.[5][7] Back in Germany in 1936, she trained to become a nurse in Hamburg, where she met and married Dr. Gert M.K. (GMK) Wallach who was also a German Jew.[5][7]

In 1938 and 1939, they separately fled to New York, settling in Goshen.[7] Gert opened a doctor's office, and served as Director of Health for Goshen, for which he received a Public Health Award.[8] He later took a position as health officer and as clinician based in Chattanooga, Tennessee for the Georgia-Tennessee Health Authority serving Appalachia[7][4] and was the Director of Health of Waterbury, Connecticut until his death.[9] Gerda also continued her work as a nurse.[7] Before she died she was featured in the documentary Letter Without Words (1998), a PBS film about her family's life in Germany from World War I (1914-1918) to flight from Nazi Germany in the 1930s.[7]

Amei Wallach had two siblings. Wendell Wallach attended Harvard Divinity School.[4] H.G. Peter Wallach was an author and "political scientist specializing in American Constitutional law, and contemporary German politics", who died in 1995.[4][5][10]

Career

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Wallach worked as Chief Art Critic for Newsday and New York Newsday from 1984 to 1995, and was an on-air arts essayist for the MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour, later renamed PBS NewsHour, from 1987 to 1995.[11][12] As an art critic, Wallach's articles have appeared in The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, The Nation, Smithsonian, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Art in America, ARTnews, Aperture, Parkett and The Brooklyn Rail.[13][14]

Wallach has interviewed and profiled artists ranging from Salvador Dalí to Willem de Kooning and Jeff Koons. She profiled Anselm Kiefer in 1988, David Hammons in 1991, and in October 2001, weeks after the World Trade Center Bombings, Wallach's essay on the Iranian-born artist Shirin Neshat was featured on the cover of Art in America.[15]

From 2000 to 2005, Wallach was president of AICA/USA, the U.S. Section of the International Association of Art Critics , or Association Internationale des Critiques d'Art, and as of 2020, continues on its board.[16] She also serves on the board of CEC ArtsLink, and was a founding member of ArtTable, an association of leading women in the arts.[17] Wallach is the founding director of The Art Writing Workshop; a partnership between the International Art Critics Association (AICA/USA) and the Creative Capital Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant Program.[14][18]

Film work

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In 2008 Wallach co-directed and co-produced Louise Bourgeois: The Spider, the Mistress, and the Tangerine with Marion Cajori.[19] Filmed over 14 years (from 1993 to 2007), the work is a documentary portrait of the sculptor Louise Bourgeois and her career, which spanned the 20th and early 21st century. The New York Times called the film a "Superb documentary portrait", and it originally garnered a 92% in positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.[20][21][22]

In 2013 Wallach directed Ilya and Emilia Kabakov: Enter Here, which debuted at the New York Film Forum, and had its Canadian premiere at the Vancouver International Film Festival.[23][24][25] The film explores the history of the artist, born in Ukraine under Joseph Stalin, and his years as an outsider artist forbidden to exhibit in Moscow. It culminates in 2008 with the artists’ first public exhibition in Moscow, in venues throughout the city, including the Pushkin Museum.[26]

Her latest documentary film, Taking Venice, will have its theatrical premiere on May 17, 2024, at the IFC Theater in New York City, having shown at international film festivals in Rome, Italy; São Paulo, Brazil; New York, Boulder, and Palm Beach.[27] Taking Venice uncovers the story behind rumors that the U.S. Government and a team of high-placed insiders rigged the 1964 Venice Biennale, so their chosen artist Robert Rauschenberg could win the Grand Prize.[28][29]

Personal life

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In September 1989 Wallach wed William P. Edwards, former Museum of Modern Art Deputy Director of Auxiliary Activities, chief executive officer of the Museum Store Company, a gift store chain, and former Southold Town Board Member.[30][31] This is a second marriage for both parties.

Wendell Wallach, her brother, is a lecturer at Yale University’s Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics, and chair of the technology and ethics study group.[32]

Works

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Books

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Films

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Awards

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Wallach was awarded the National Endowment for the Arts Professional Journalism Fellowship at Stanford University, later renamed the John S. Knight Fellowship, in 1984.[38][39]

In 2006, Wallach won a "Best Show in a Temporary or Alternative Space" award for her exhibition Neo-Sincerity: The Difference Between the Comic and the Cosmic Is a Single Letter, from the International Art Critics Association/USA.[40][41]

References

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  1. ^ "Amei Wallach". The Center for the Humanities.
  2. ^ "Zeitgeist Films & Kino Lorber Take North American Rights To Amei Wallach Art Doc 'Taking Venice'". Ground News. 14 November 2023. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  3. ^ Martinez, Alanna (2017-07-21). "Documentary to Explore Robert Rauschenberg's Controversial 1964 Venice Biennale Win". Observer. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
  4. ^ a b c d e Amei Wallach Wed to Charles Tebo, Special to The New York Times (1923-Current file); Jun 18, 1972, pg. 58.
  5. ^ a b c d H.G. Peter Wallach, 56; CCSU Professor, Author, Hartford Courant ; Hartford, Conn. [Hartford, Conn], 17 Mar 1995: B.9.
  6. ^ "GS Celebrates Reunion and Dean's Day 2010". The Owl. New York. 30 November 2010. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wallach, Gerda Wilhelmina (Lewenz), Hartford Courant ; [Hartford, Conn], 15 Oct 2000: B3.
  8. ^ "Anderson Honored- At 59th Annual ^TB Assn. Dinner" (PDF). No. 1010. Town Times: The Watertown-Oakville Weekly. 18 May 1967. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  9. ^ "BURNING TIRES SICKENING WATERBURY". The New York Times Company. New York Times. 11 October 1982. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  10. ^ H.G. Peter Wallach, Political Scholar. 56. New York Times (1923-Current file); Mar 22, 1995; pg. B8.
  11. ^ "Amei Wallach & Iris Muller-Westermann". modernamuseet.se. 10 April 2015.
  12. ^ "The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour- Rembrandt Essay". American Archive of Public Broadcasting. American Archive of Public Broadcasting. 2 February 1988. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  13. ^ "Articles by Amei Wallach". Smithsonian.
  14. ^ a b "Amei Wallach". brooklynrail.org.
  15. ^ Wallach, Amei (October 2001). "Shirin Neshat: Islamic Counterpoints" (PDF). Art in America. 89 (10): 136. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  16. ^ "International Association of Art Critics- USA Board". AICA-USA. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  17. ^ "ArtTable About". ArtTable. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  18. ^ "AICA-USA Art Writing Workshop". International Art Critics Association. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  19. ^ a b Smith, Roberta (29 August 2006). "Marion Cajori, 56, Filmmaker Who Explored Artistic Process, Dies". The New York Times. The New York Times. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  20. ^ "Louise Bourgeois: The Spider, The Mistress and the Tangerine". TimeOut. 19 May 2009. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  21. ^ Lee, Nathan (9 July 2008). "Feeding a Creative Headwater". The New York Times. The New York Times. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  22. ^ Louise Bourgeois: The Spider, the Mistress and the Tangerine. Rotten Tomatoes.
  23. ^ a b "Amei Wallach - Rotten Tomatoes". www.rottentomatoes.com.
  24. ^ "Film Forum Premieres" (PDF). Film Forum. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  25. ^ "Music and Art at VIFF 2014". VIFF Archive. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  26. ^ Taubin, Amy (13 November 2013). "Amy Taubin on Ilya and Emilia Kabakov: Enter Here". Artforum. Artforum. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  27. ^ "Taking Venice". Zeitgeist Films. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  28. ^ a b Stickney, Ken Stickney (8 August 2018). "Finding the factor: Documentarian explores Rauschenberg in Venice". Port Arthur News.
  29. ^ D'Arcy, David (15 December 2023). "Was Rauschenberg's grand prize win at the 1964 Venice Biennale a US plot, or just good PR?". AMTD Group. The Art Newspaper. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  30. ^ "WILLIAM P. EDWARDS APPOINTED TO NEW POST AT THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART" (PDF) (Press release). The Museum of Modern Art. February 1987. Retrieved 2024-02-22.
  31. ^ "William Edwards". Stony Brook University Department of History. Stony Brook University. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  32. ^ Shelton, Jim (2016-02-15). "Shaping tomorrow's smart machines: Q&A with bioethicist Wendell Wallach". YaleNews. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  33. ^ Wallach, Amei; Kabakov, Ilya (1996). Ilya Kabakov: The Man Who Never Threw Anything Away. United States: Harry N. Abrams.
  34. ^ Wallach, Amei; Kuspit, Donald B. (1998). Reflections of Nature: Paintings by Joseph Raffael. New York: Abeville press. ISBN 0789202808.
  35. ^ Arnett, Paul; Arnett, William; Herman, Bernard; Wallach, Amei; Gordon, Maggi; Cubbs, Joanne; Whitley, Lauren; Blum, Dilys (2006). Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt. Tinwood books. ISBN 0971910456.
  36. ^ Stern, Peter H.; Collen, David R; Wallach, Amei (2007). LOUISE BOURGEOIS. New Windsor, NY: Storm King Art Center.
  37. ^ "Ilya and Emilia Kabakov: Enter Here". First Run Features. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  38. ^ "Two dozen American journalists have been awarded National Endowment..." United Press International. 14 June 1983. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  39. ^ "The 1980s: Moving media forward". 125 Years of Journalism. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  40. ^ "Art in Review". The New York Times. 2006-03-31. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
  41. ^ Robinson, W. (February 11, 2007). "Artnet News - artnet Magazine". www.artnet.com. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
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