A Word About Conceptual Art
I have had quite a few people who were quite amused by my recent mixed media piece “How Clever (Hirst Meets Koons)”, but have done more than a bit of explaining the nuances of my title and it’s connection to the work. This work is a reaction to the type of oh-so-clever work being done by conceptual artists. Damien Hirst is the British artist who cut animals such as great white sharks and cows into segments and displays them in vitrines of formaldehyde. This accounts for the segmented part of my piece. Jeff Koons is an American artist who has others manufacture his work. One of Koons’ “artworks” is a 15′ Mickey Mouse that is gold-plated…thus the reference to gold-plating in my work.
I am not a Stuckist, but I do have quite a problem with the direction that a lot of conceptual art is presently moving towards. I enjoy blurring the lines and challenging the reining concept of what art should be…and yet it bothers me that these artists have no technical skill and are basically “taking-the-piss” out of the public at large. I do agree with the Stuckists on one thing…Turner is the only person who couldn’t win the Turner Prize in this current atmosphere. It would seem that being clever has overshadowed the ideal of craft and diligence on the part of the artist. It also is troublesome that dealers such as Charles Saatchi can manipulate the market and curators (see Nicholas Serota) to champion such shoddy work. It seems politics are alive and well in the art world of today. Lots and lots of “empty suits” out there.
3/ 10 /12
An update…Andres Serrano (muy infamoso for “Piss Christ”) had a show in NY w/ 4 x 8′ photos of various feces. I was not aware of this “prescient body of work”, but am not surprised I overlooked it’s intrusion into any serious discussion on aesthetics.
