What is Art Anyway? — Bossy Mealz

Oct 20

Oct 20 What is Art Anyway?

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The Bossy Mealz Newsletter
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What Constitutes Contemporary Art Anyway?

When I first started this newsletter I wanted to discuss the most pressing issues in the art world, from museums vs experiences, to the role of black lives matter, but I realize now I skipped over some basic and important questions. I've been thinking a lot lately about gatekeepers and who decides what is "good" art or not and wanted to share my thoughts.

How do we go from Cerulean to Stuff?

And Who Decides?

There was recently a series in Town & Countr y on the problematic attribution of taste--how is someone's taste deemed better than someone else's? Can you learn to have good taste and is it even worth learning? Can a form of artwork ever be truly excellent?

"'Nobody can define taste, because, after 25 centuries of trying to do just that—Plato fretted about it long before the Duchess of Windsor did—the only thing that anyone can agree on with respect to good taste is that, at the end of the day, it’s…subjective.'"

Since it is so hard to determine what is good art, the art world relies on curators, dealers and other tastemakers to determine what is worth being shown, exhibited and sold. That said, artists typically follow rigorous academic standards in order for their work to be considered for gallery representation. Artists are not discovered out of nowhere as is often perceived, the majority of artists are graduates of the most prestigious MFA programs. One indication of how seriously the art world takes these credentials is that every artist's resume is listed on their gallery's website.
BUT herd mentality has a role to play in the art world as much as it does anywhere else, and all it takes is for someone with influence to champion an artist to get their career on the fast track. The biggest reckoning the art world is facing today is that historically it was white men promoting exclusively other white men. From startups raising venture capital to the art world the same "I believe in someone who reminds me of a younger version of myself" applied.
To bring this back what is good art--the answer is not linear or straightforward, but likely it is artworks that challenge the status quo of what is already deemed good art at the time. Often the best art starts out with many people wondering if it matters at all.

Learn About Innovation in the Art Market on Art Breaker

I recently released the inaugural season of Art Breaker: a podcast about innovation in the art world. From the role of blockchain to sustainability, this podcast features conversations with entrepreneurs transforming the art industry. Here are the links to listen to all episodes on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.