To the true lover of art seeking the path of understanding and enlightenment, the conflicting voices calling out for attention are capable of creating confusion to rival that in the aftermath of the Biblical tower of Babel.
Consider the financial journal, breaking news of auction results in the hope of convincing the reader that the true value of art is to be discerned by studying the number of zeroes to the left of the decimal point in the latest sale prices from Sotheby's, Christies et al…usually the numbers appear on page 1 in bold type that is larger than the dimensions of the fuzzy photo of the lot on page 3. This is not about art being looked at, but about a blue chip acquisition being secured until it can be flipped again for a profit.
Quite recently, at another extreme, a subject of much conversation and consternation has been the way in which a presumably urbane urban periodical chose to present the exploits of the contemporary art personality of the moment, and his orbit. Serving up a dish of personal “more than we need to know” details, stirring in hints of scandal, and topping it off with piles of hype designed to glorify the subject to icon status, they imply that they are giving the reader a sneak peak at the next tragic rebel hero, ala Basquiat, Morrison or Edie. The approach is transparent - art is meant to be another arm of the popular cult of celebrity worship/vilification, a kind of car wreck that we all just have to look at as we drive by.
Tower of Babel by Pieter Brueghel the elder 1563
A few months back, all the fuss was about still another piece of art journalism - at that time a prestigious daily devoted a large chunk of its hallowed Sunday Art section to an article so focused on the residential real estate of a prominent painter that it seemed more to belong on the pages of Architectural Digest. Even the average museum visitor was perplexed by that approach, but probably not so much as they are when trying to sift through the type of journalism that defines and critiques art in academic or technical terms…pass the caffeine, please.
Eschewing all of the above approaches, then we are left with, well, all or nothing. Short of not reading about art, there is the option of choosing the focus most suited to your taste and the subject - be it financial considerations, academic analysis, voyeuristic entertainment, or simply a greater understanding of an artist’s creativity - this last becoming a rare commodity in today’s media market.
It really falls upon those of us who choose to write about art to speak to all the points without resorting to tabloid sensationalism on the one extreme, or dry discourse on the other. If authors like Stephen Hawking and Brian Greene can make cosmology and string theory exciting to the reading public, surely, the legions of writers involved in covering the art world can, without a nuance of dumbing down, address that which is vital and exciting about artists and their lives and works.
Note : This article first appeared in Reoslve40 - January 2007
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