West coast critic Robert Pincus to speak at Artspace Shreveport on the role of the art critic and on the exhibit of paintings by Rachel Stuart-Haas on Fri, Mar 2, 5:30 pm and Sat, 10 am; free and open to the public

Rachel Stuart-Haas, Shreveport , a photo by trudeau on Flickr.

Shreveport Regional Arts Council will host an Art Exhibition Critic’s Talk with Robert Pincus, Ph.D., at artspace, 710 Texas St in Downtown Shreveport, on Fri, Mar 2, 5:30 – 7:30 pm.

Pincus will offer a critique of the current artspace exhibition, “One Woman Show,” featuring the paintings of Rachel Stuart-Haas. He will discuss the current state of art in our country and the role of the Art Critic.

On Sat, Mar 3, at 10 am, Dr. Pincus will hold a discussion with local artists and critics on “How to Critique and the Responsibilities of a Critic.”

Both events are free and open to the public.

SRAC first brought Pincus from San Diego to critique the visual art entries and present the awards for the 2011 exhibit called Impromptu.

With over a quarter million people in the US identifying themselves as “artists” and the decline of art critics due to staffing cuts by magazines and newspapers, the public is lacking analysis and evaluation of new works of art, says Foley.

Art criticism is interpretive and involves effort by the critic to understand a particular work of art from a theoretical perspective and to establish its significance in the history of art. Art critics create dialogue, engaging readers to think and to debate artworks. They also bring a passion to the subject of art and provide significant exposure for artists and arts institutions.

Pincus is a former LA Times art critic, an author and popular teacher at the Univ of San Diego.