Sunday, October 19, 2014

Contemporary Art : Why David Byrne Is Wrong

(Drivebycuriosity) - "I don`t care about contemporary art anymore", writes David Byrne (davidbyrne). The founding member of the band "Talking Heads" is still famous and finds a lot of attention for his political and cultural comments. I found the link to his article about contemporary art @ one of my favorite blogs (marginal).

Byrne claims that "the art world caters to the 1%. It’s obvious that the outrageous prices for contemporary art mean that—although anyone can look—only the very wealthy can afford it".

Really?


1. I often visit contemporary art galleries in New York´s Chelsea area and in the Lower East Side. The art brokers offer a huge variety of works and demand a broad spectrum of prices depending on the reputation of the artist. I see there a lot contemporary paintings which is often priced way below $100.000. Recently I visited the Fitzroy Gallery in in the Lower East Side (fitzroy). Currently they are showing the works of 4 artists. The price list covers a range of $3,000 to $14,000. Below this paragraph you can see a quartet of paintings by Cassandra MacLeod, all priced for $5,000. There follows another work by the same artist, which I like more, which is offered for $12,000.




The more prestigious galleries in New York´s Chelsea area also offer often works for prices below $20,000. For instance the gallery  RH Contemporary Art sells a lot of paintings for $15,000 and less (rhcontemporary). If you go to London and attend the classy Frieze Art Fair, which is running now, you can get paintings in the range of $18,000 to $40,000 (artnews).




You also can buy affordable art online of course. London`s renowned Saatchy Gallery offers contemporary paintings below $1,000 (saatchi). The online company Art.net organizes an auction where the prices start in the range of $10,000 to $25.000 (artnet) and you can purchase contemporary art @ Amazon.com (here a link to their art section: amazon). These works might not hit the exquisite taste bud of Mr. Byrne, but they are certainly not just for the 1%.

2. There is deluge of fresh contemporary art. Usually every day in New York City there are 2 or more gallery receptions for a new exhibition of contemporary art. It seems there is  flood of new and upcoming artists who are eager to sell their produces. And there are a lot of art fairs in the US and in Europe which create markets for new and upcoming artists. The ubiquity of events and artists leads to a strong competition between painters, sculptors and other artists, who are tryingf to sell their works for a reasonable price (even if Mr. Byrne doesn´t care anyore).

3. Just the works of some top stars like Jeff Koons, Gerhard Richter, Sigmar Polke, Anselm Kiefer and Damien Hirst are traded for $1,000,000 and more. It seems just 1% of the artists world caters the 1%. The mass of unknown artists has to struggle to survive.

4. And: Even if the "rich" buy contemporary art, the paintings and sculptures do not necessarily disappear. Recently I visited the amazing Dia:Beacon museum in upstate New York (diaart). They have an impressive collection of gorgeous sculptures including Richard Serra´s massive steel installations. I was told that the museum had already auctioned all displayed works. But the sculptures are still there even that they belong now to some investors (maybe part of the 1%). These investors don´t bother to take the acquired art works with home. Why should they? The museum takes care of the precious works (including security). Btw: There is hall with 4 huge holes in the ground (Michael Heizer: "North, East, West, South"). Who wants to take holes with him?

5. Museums like Tate Modern, MomMa, Guggenheim and others often show works loaned by external owners, who might be part of the 1%. The museum shows raise the value of their investments. Therefore I can enjoy contemporary art even when it belongs to the "rich".



6. I still enjoy going to museums, galleries & art fairs. There is always something new to see and to discover. Many art works might disappear because the "rich" will buy them. But there is a continuous stream of new things to see. Spotting contemporary art is like attending a rock festival. I don´t need to buy the groups and to take them home with me.


3 comments:

  1. Many thanks for being my instructor on this subject.
    I enjoyed your current article a lot and most of all enjoyed reading the way in which you handled the areas I considered to be controversial.

    You happen to be always quite kind to readers much like
    me and help me in my existence. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for your funny comment. I enjoy your sarcasm. I am not sure that the here treated areas are really controversial, rather the lefty claims of pop music millionaire David B.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Is contemporary art only for the 1 Percent?

    https://drivebycuriosity.blogspot.com/2019/05/art-market-is-contemporary-art-only-for.html

    ReplyDelete