Some people really believe this others know it’s de rigueur. Artists could wear stripes like generals, so everyone would know their rank.” If the art world shared one principle, it would probably be that nothing is more important than the art itself. If you’re showing in the Whitney 8īiennial or at the Tate, you could announce it on your jacket. I’ve always thought that wearing badges or ribbons would solve it. I find it tedious when I bump into people who insist on giving me their CV highlights. As John Baldessari, a Los Angeles–based artist who speaks wisely and wittily in these pages, told me, “Artists have huge egos, but how that manifests itself changes with the times. Dealers who are concerned about the location of their booth at an art fair or collectors keen to be first in line for a new “masterpiece” are perhaps the most obvious instances, but no one is exempt. As I’ve roamed the art world, I’ve been habitually amused by the status anxieties of all the players. The contemporary art world is what Tom Wolfe would call a “statusphere.” It’s structured around nebulous and often contradictory hierarchies of fame, credibility, imagined historical importance, institutional affiliation, education, perceived intelligence, wealth, and attributes such as the size of one’s collection. In a society where everyone is looking for a little distinction, it’s an intoxicating combination. Art is about experimenting and ideas, but it is also about excellence and exclusion. Although the art world is frequently characterized as a classless scene where artists from lower-middle-class backgrounds drink champagne with high-priced hedge-fund managers, scholarly curators, fashion designers, and other “creatives,” you’d be mistaken if you thought this world was egalitarian or democratic. It’s a “symbolic economy” where people swap thoughts and where cultural worth is debated rather than determined by brute wealth. The art world is a sphere where many people don’t just work but reside full-time. The market refers to the people who buy and sell works (that is, dealers, collectors, auction houses), but many art world players (the critics, curators, and artists themselves) are not directly involved in this commercial activity on a regular basis.
Quiet control-mediated by trust-is what the art world is really about.” It’s important to bear in mind that the art world is much broader than the art market. It starts with the artists, because their work determines how things get played out, but they need an honest dialogue with a conspirator. Several chapters of this book, sees it, “The art world isn’t about power but control. Being a credible or successful artist is the toughest position, but it’s the dealers who, channeling and deflecting the power of all the other players, occupy the most pivotal role. One encounters artistcritics and dealer-collectors, but they admit that it isn’t always easy to juggle their jobs and that one of their identities tends to dominate other people’s perceptions of what they do. Art world insiders tend to play one of six distinct roles: artist, dealer, curator, critic, collector, or auction-house expert. Still, the art world is more polycentric than it was in the twentieth century, when Paris, then New York held sway. Vibrant art communities can be found in places like Glasgow, Vancouver, and Milan, but they are hinterlands to the extent that the artists working in them have often made an active choice to stay there. They span the globe but cluster in art capitals such as New York, London, Los Angeles, and Berlin. The contemporary art world is a loose network of overlapping subcultures held together by a belief in art. The art world both expanded and started to spin faster it became hotter, hipper, and more expensive. During the past eight years, the contemporary art market has boomed, museum attendance has surged, and more people than ever were able to abandon their day jobs and call themselves artists. Seven Days in the Art World is a time capsule of a remarkable period in the history of art.
Castle House, 75/76 Wells Street, London W1T 3QTĬontents Introduction 1 The Auction 2 The Crit 3 The Fair 4 The Prize 5 The Magazine 6 The Studio Visit 7 The Biennale Author’s Note Acknowledgments Selected Bibliography Seven days in the art world / Sarah Thornton.-1st ed. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Thornton, Sarah.
Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110 SEVEN DAYS IN THE Art World SARAH THORNTONįor information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, W.
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