Jerry Saltz gives Norman Jabaut’s wood constructions a “10.”
– Jerry Saltz photo from Art Review magazine, Norman Jabaut photo by Jason Andrew

This weekend’s BETA Spaces, put on by Arts in Bushwick, brought out the big shots — including, as Diego Cupolo mentioned earlier this week, a Washington Post reporter here to scope out the scene.

WaPo’s Andrea Sachs quotes Arts in Bushwick’s Laura Braslow: “There is a lot more experimental art here, partially because people don’t have the structural constraints where they are trying to keep up with the galleries… the Bushwick art scene is not about sipping wine and looking at white walls.”

I’d tell Laura to enjoy it while it lasts: rumor has it that uber influential wine-sipping art critic super couple Jerry Saltz (formerly of the Village Voice, now with NY Mag) and Roberta Smith (NY Times) were in the hood last weekend, spying on the indie art scene. According to one tipster, “they expressed not even a vaguest hint of how they felt about anything they saw…they looked, watched, observed, asked questions and made conversation but that was it.” Another, Jason Andrew of Norte Maar on Wyckoff, told me he had come back from walking his dog and was shocked to find these luminaries standing in his bedroom.

“Standing with them both in my bedroom discussing the work of Amanda Trager and Erik Moskowitz was a total mind trip,” shares Andrew. “It left me busy reinventing my ultimate dream scene. Both were very interested in learning specific details about each of the artists in the show. Jerry thought Norman Jabaut’s wood constructions were ’sexy’ while Roberta was taken by the collage work of Andrew Hurst. Knowing both critics for quite some time I asked them ‘Why are you here? You’re going to mess up everything we’ve got going on here (in Bushwick).’”

Whatever the consequences of increased mainstream attention on the future of art in Bushwick, it seems our fair neighborhood has finally entered the graced consciousness of the Serious Art world.