Gary Indiana's Village Voice Art Columns Collected in 'Vile Days' with 1980s New York Art Scene Revelations

A collection of Gary Indiana's art criticism for The Village Voice from the 1980s has been compiled in 'Vile Days,' edited by Bruce Hainley. Indiana wrote for the publication from the early 1980s until 1988, covering the East Village art scene and broader New York cultural landscape with a sharp, irreverent style. His columns addressed major works like Richard Serra's 'Tilted Arc' (1981), which he criticized as 'hateful,' and exhibitions by artists including Gerhard Richter, whose paintings he praised for interrogating sincerity. Indiana also reviewed events like the Venice Biennale, Sotheby's Warhol auctions after the 1987 stock market crash, and Manhattan bank lobby art. The collection includes his final 1988 column on Felix Gonzalez-Torres, written during the AIDS crisis, where Indiana announced his departure from art criticism. The book captures a period featuring artists such as Jeff Koons, Peter Halley, Barbara Kruger, Vincent Gallo, Gretchen Bender, Mike Bidlo, and Meyer Vaisman, alongside historical sidelined figures. Indiana's writing blended literary insight with biting commentary, often challenging decorum, as seen in anecdotes like his blunt critique to gallerist Gracie Mansion. The compilation, published in 2018, offers a raw perspective on 1980s art world dynamics, free from retrospective filtering, with one essay omitted at Indiana's request.