One of the most frequent complaints artists make about critics is that they always get the last word, and rarely have to face the people they tear down in print. Critic Russell Smith recently had a chance to buck that trend, facing off against nearly a hundred angry Toronto artists whom he has offended in some way or other. In Smith’s view, the problem is that too many artists simply believe they ought to be immune to all outside assessment. “It was interesting that none of my interlocutors wanted to attack any other newspapers for their art coverage – because most newspapers don’t cover visual art at all. I honestly think that some of my critics prefer that.”