A quick thought on our developing monocultures

I really like this quote from Rapheal Rubinstien (from his article on Neo-Expressionism in Art in America)

“… it’s vitally important that we have, someplace, a public forum where we can argue with each other about new art. I often worry that the art world is adopting the MSNBC/Fox News model—closed spheres where clusters of like-minded partisans never have to confront opposing views.”

Not surprisingly, I like this because I’ve been thinking along these lines recently. From Facebook to blogs to magazines to openings, I’m seeing a highly fractured and increasingly uninteresting artworld open up before me. I’ve never believed in monocultures, but I fear that is what we are starting to evolve towards.

I’m meeting more and more artists and curators who know so little outside of a particular realm, that when confronted by an idea or approach that is outside of the narrow comfort zone, the artist/curator has no response; and worse, no ability or desire to ask further questions. In the long run it’s the loss of these further questions that I worry about most. Because in my mind it is exactly the further questions that can bring new ideas and approaches to the foreground of our art discourse.

You can read Neo-Expressionism Not Remembered at this link: http://www.artinamericamagazine.com/news-features/magazine/neo-expressionism-not-remembered/

Artwork: A R Penck