Think art criticism is the province of pompous fops and over-educated assholes? Spend some time with Dave Hickey, and he might change your mind. The long-time freelance critic and MacArthur "genius" award-winner is as famous for his anti-establishment opinions — e.g., that curators are ossified brains divorced from the living arts community — as he is for a compendious knowledge of visual art and popular culture. In his 1997 book, Air Guitar: Essays on Art & Democracy, Hickey writes the hell out of topics as diverse as Siegfried and Roy, basketball and Jackson Pollock ... sometimes in the same essay. USF-Tampa hosts this talk on "The Age of the Art Fair." What the man will say is anybody's guess, but I'm betting that someone who waxes nostalgic for a time when painters didn't have publicists can't be too happy about art's über-commercial turn. The Golding Chair presents An Evening with Dave Hickey, Thurs., Feb. 22, 7 p.m., USF Music Recital Hall, FAH101, 4202 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa, free admission, 813-974-2301.
