Massive Links! Pimping Your Wares Edition

by Art Fag City on August 7, 2009 · 6 comments


Banksy. This smoke break has been brought to you by Kool cigarettes. Image via: fab

  • I’m not an art market expert, but buying an Andy Warhol print depicting Michael Jackson right after the pop singer’s death might solicit an inflated price. Not that the quality of a given artwork has ever had a one to one relationship with auction prices, but I’d like to go on record with the statement that this clearly is not one of his better works.  The piece was removed from the block last month, only to return now that media hoopla has died down. Janet Lehr, an art dealer and partner at the auction host site Vered Gallery, assures Reuters the unnamed seller isn’t trying to capitalize on the star’s death.  “I can tell you that the owner is a true art collector, a lover of paintings, he bought the painting because he loved the painting.”

What’s Special About V.I.P. 2.0 Gerald Ferguson’s Blue Collar Conceptualism: An Interview with Luke Murphy and Phil Grauer The Azerbaijan Tower is Totally a Claes Oldenburg
  • http://www.artfagcity.com Art Fag City

    Via: Austin Wallace on Anyone could paint that and 7 other myths about art.

    As someone who ALMOST fits into this piece’s intended audience, I’d like to disagree with 2 of your points.

    3. “if an artist says it’s art, it is.” HOGWASH. What are the criteria for BEING an artist, anyway? Formal Training? (What about Outsider Art?) The truth is that while in the past Art mystified us because we couldn’t fathom the talent needed to create it (Rembrandt, Micehangelo), these days Art mystifies us because its very definition is unstable.

    6.’ Anyone Could Do That.’ I’ve never come across a sufficient rebuttal for this. If ANYONE can do it, then it IS art if an artist does it, but it’s NOT art if a non-artist does it. Say what?
    I still agree with the “Integration of Art” stance put forth by John Dewey, which states that Art’s best, truest purpose was fulfilled in ancient times, when it was part and parcel of daily life(Grecian urns, etc.) Until modern Art fulfills the same functions, it’ll continue to be a marginalized curio all too easily dismissed by the masses.

  • http://www.artfagcity.com Art Fag City

    Via: Austin Wallace on Anyone could paint that and 7 other myths about art.

    As someone who ALMOST fits into this piece’s intended audience, I’d like to disagree with 2 of your points.

    3. “if an artist says it’s art, it is.” HOGWASH. What are the criteria for BEING an artist, anyway? Formal Training? (What about Outsider Art?) The truth is that while in the past Art mystified us because we couldn’t fathom the talent needed to create it (Rembrandt, Micehangelo), these days Art mystifies us because its very definition is unstable.

    6.’ Anyone Could Do That.’ I’ve never come across a sufficient rebuttal for this. If ANYONE can do it, then it IS art if an artist does it, but it’s NOT art if a non-artist does it. Say what?
    I still agree with the “Integration of Art” stance put forth by John Dewey, which states that Art’s best, truest purpose was fulfilled in ancient times, when it was part and parcel of daily life(Grecian urns, etc.) Until modern Art fulfills the same functions, it’ll continue to be a marginalized curio all too easily dismissed by the masses.

  • http://www.artfagcity.com Art Fag City

    @austin wallace:

    Addressing point 3: I agree that art mystifies us because it’s definition is unstable, but I don’t think this refutes the point that if an artist says it’s art it is. The criteria for being an artist is only claiming that title. Nobody said you had to be any good. What’s really annoying is when your average pet rock painter makes a claim of equivalency to that of an artist showing at the New Museum. Both methods of production may be art, but the level of skill and investment is not the same and shouldn’t be assessed as such.

    Addressing point 6. By Dewey’s definition, a lot of design is probably better art than what’s traditionally labeled fine art. I’d argue those distinctions are largely a result of the market and education. From a practical stand point, as practitioner within the field of fine art, I’m less interested in design. Not because it’s better or worse, but because it’s outside my area of expertise.

  • http://www.artfagcity.com Art Fag City

    @austin wallace:

    Addressing point 3: I agree that art mystifies us because it’s definition is unstable, but I don’t think this refutes the point that if an artist says it’s art it is. The criteria for being an artist is only claiming that title. Nobody said you had to be any good. What’s really annoying is when your average pet rock painter makes a claim of equivalency to that of an artist showing at the New Museum. Both methods of production may be art, but the level of skill and investment is not the same and shouldn’t be assessed as such.

    Addressing point 6. By Dewey’s definition, a lot of design is probably better art than what’s traditionally labeled fine art. I’d argue those distinctions are largely a result of the market and education. From a practical stand point, as practitioner within the field of fine art, I’m less interested in design. Not because it’s better or worse, but because it’s outside my area of expertise.

  • http://www.mooneyontheatre.com megan

    I love that Banksy image. It really grabbed me. I kind of want it. Christmas is coming up soon, isn’t it? … ;)

  • http://www.mooneyontheatre.com megan

    I love that Banksy image. It really grabbed me. I kind of want it. Christmas is coming up soon, isn’t it? … ;)

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