11 Jul Eat The Rich
Has anybody else noticed the growing class warfare tone that is starting to bubble up in the art world??
See recent posts by Charlie Finch at Artnet and Jeff Jahn at Port.
Maybe this is just the way patronage looks in our times….for better or worse.
In the coming downturn in art buying….and there will be one….will these same people, as they see their artist friends hit harder and harder times, be posting about where have all the collectors gone??
Let’s not forget, in many ways, we are all sucking off the same teet.
UPDATE: Edward Winkleman gives his take in a well written and well thought out post.
Todd W.
Posted at 11:54h, 11 JulyI see it more as a hatred of johnny-come-lately’s jumping on the bandwagon rather than true class warfare. It’s like when one of my high school friends was really into Nirvana and then got all pissed off when “Smells Like Teen Spirit” got to be a big hit. Same thing with all these mythical hedge fund managers suddenly coming in an buying up everything in sight. Particularly galling, I’d think, so someone on a critic’s salary.
Edward
Posted at 10:01h, 12 JulyI think Todd’s right to a large extent. Finch in particular is very comfortable with the old guard in NY, regardless of how rich they are. It’s the newbies, many of whom may not acknowledge his priveleged position, who seem to be the target of his very talented, albeit often poisonous pen.
ps…many thanks for the trackback!
sheriff jeff
Posted at 10:31h, 15 JulyI don’t think picking on the new rich is anything new. Actually it is a kind of right of passage… in fact one of my best freinds drives a TT. I simply wanted to point out how milled aluminum was quite popular with the yuppie set and give it some intellectual context.
I dont think there is anything wrong with them liking alumninum, I just wish that the word minimal was more connected to the philosphical arguments that lead to it becoming a popular word.
…and thanks for reading, I lived in Brea for 4 years as a kid.