Alias publishes Spanish translation of Hal Foster and Benjamin Buchloh's 'Exit Interview'

Mexican publisher Alias has released 'Entrevista de salida', a Spanish translation of the 2024 No Place Press book 'Exit Interview', featuring a three-part conversation between critics and historians Hal Foster (Seattle, 1955) and Benjamin Buchloh (Cologne, 1941). Translated by Gabriel Kuri, the edition maintains the original design. The book includes personal anecdotes from Buchloh, such as his experience with LSD and a friend who became schizophrenic after an acid trip, as well as intellectual autobiography that evokes the interwar European spirit similar to Francis Picabia's novel 'Pandemonium' (written during his Dada period, published 1971, Spanish edition by Malpaso in 2015). The volume also contains an essay by Buchloh titled 'De viva voz: el fin de los críticos', which serves as a coda to his earlier Artforum article 'Farewell to An Identity'. Buchloh reflects on the role of criticism, citing Gustave Courbet's story of a critic who would wake up shouting 'I have to criticize!' as a warning against taking professional identity too seriously. The conversation touches on Buchloh's relationships with non-European and non-American artists like Gabriel Orozco, whom he met in the 1990s. The reviewer notes the bittersweet tone of closure without bitterness, and discusses the challenges of criticism in an era dominated by market triumph, financial speculation, and spectacle.