Post-Standard -- Forum

by syrakatzmeow, 9/22/07 13:42 ET
Re: Astria Suparak by sean, 9/22/07

In regard to the firing of Astria Suparak - Maybe you should be looking into the way that Jeff Hoone became "king of all art" of Syracuse. For many years, I was witness to the shoddy treatment afforded members and visitors to Community Darkrooms by Mr. Hoone, while those who could "contribute" to his cause (his own climb up the ladder of success) were were welcomed with open arms, and ingratiating gestures. For example, upon Nancy Cantor's selection as Chancellor, he pulled strings as fast as humanly possible to secure a painting for the University in her name by her favorite artist Sol LeWitt, and who knows what else. The next thing we knew, he is given dictatorial control over all art shown at the University - and then he went for the EVERSON! Thank goodness that Sandra Tropp had the backbone to stand up to this shameless comer!

It should be obvious to anyone who has seen the kind of tripe that Mr. Hoone has served up for years at the photography, and now, art galleries at SU that the main reason behind his having fired Ms. Suparak is that she has the kind of vision and ability to bring truly innovative, cutting-edge work to Syracuse that has eluded him. He was never qualified for this "king of all art" position - and HE is the one who should be released - and possibly replaced by Ms. Suparak!?


Source:
http://www.syracuse.com/forums/kirst/

The Yes Men

Dear People,

Thanks for all the support and encouragement regarding the canceled Syracuse show. We should make it clear that the only reason we agreed to do the show in the first place was because of Astria Suparak's curation and dedication to making it happen.

When Jeff Hoone contacted us last week to ask if we would mount the show despite her firing, we told him that we would not.

Surprisingly, this did not stop him from communicating to the press that we were going to do the show, which seems to have resulted in a bit of confusion.

In closing, just to be clear: we will not do the show in Syracuse without Astria. We are a bit baffled about why it was canceled in the first place, but the only man to ask about that is Mr. Hoone, and from our limited experience with him, extracting the truth may require something of an expert in that kind of activity, and we certainly want no part in that.

Best Wishes,
The Yes Men