Liam Otero on Art Writing as Creative Practice and Personal Journey

In a personal essay on his Substack, Art & Ponder, Liam Otero, the New York Editor for Whitehot Magazine, contemplates the relationship between art criticism and creative writing. He highlights his recent works for Whitehot Magazine, IMPULSE Magazine, and The Brooklyn Rail, including a review of the Museum of the City of New York's exhibition 'Robert Rauschenberg's New York: Pictures from the Real World.' Otero also penned a press release for Leemour Pelli's solo exhibition at Leonovich Gallery, curated by Annina Nosei, and an essay on Japanese video artist Kohei Ando for the Prismatic Ground Film Festival. He recounts experiencing writer's block due to a PTSD episode from a physical assault near NYU in the summer of 2024. Otero discusses his curatorial strategy, aiming to avoid redundancy in reviews of Minimalist painting, dark fantasy, political art, and performance, noting his decision not to critique Robert Mapplethorpe's exhibition at Gladstone Gallery (March 5–April 18, 2026) as an example of restraint. Future endeavors include a review of Dmitry Krymov's adaptation of Chekhov's 'Uncle Vanya' at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club and an essay exploring fashion modeling as an art form. He stresses the creative energy necessary for writing, likening it to artistic endeavors, and underscores the significance of self-care following a break.