We get the art we deserve

Art today is beset by spectacle and speculation, but a cure is possible.

By Carol Strickland

from the December 21, 2007 edition

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New York - As a mirror for society, art often tells us things we'd rather not know. What big picture are artists painting of Western society? In today's landscape, two features are screamingly evident: spectacle and speculation.

Both rely on flashy style more than substance. But all is not lost. Artists must return to personally making personal objects, rather than turning out "signature" works fabricated by a hundred assistants. Glitz and glamour are as ephemeral as fireflies. Art that endures is serious, hard-hitting, deep, and mature. It requires viewers who are equally committed to decipher it.

Reflecting America's show-biz culture, quiet, contemplative art is overshadowed by art straining to be cinematic or sensationalist. "The requirement that great art be serious and have a message and give aesthetic delight has gone largely by the board because so much art is subsumed as entertainment," says cultural commentator Matthew Gurewitsch.

Art as spectacle was on display in the Brooklyn Museum's aptly named "Sensation" exhibition in 1999. It featured shocking works by the so-called Young British Artists (YBAs). Marc Quinn's self-portrait bust was made from his frozen blood. Damien Hirst's "A Thousand Years" consisted of a box with maggots swarming over a rotting cow's head. Both works score points for originality by updating the traditional "vanitas" genre that reminds us of mortality. Yet the YBAs too often seek to shock more than enlighten.

In a culture obsessed with celebrity and novelty, it's no surprise that artists' works become more strident to win attention. In a society saturated by the entertainment industry – and with digital tools galore – art has developed parallels to panoramic, Technicolor cinema. Photographers such as Jeff Wall and Gregory Crewdson exhibit wall-sized, staged photographs, digitally manipulated, in dazzling color and detail. Video artists such as Bill Viola turn out Hollywood-style, "wow!" art works.

If every age gets the art it deserves, the other trait – speculation – suggests rampant materialism. Works sell at auction for astronomical sums, as hedge-fund billionaires and oil moguls compete to acquire collections of contemporary art and the sheen of high culture. Many lament this "irrational exuberance" as a pernicious influence. "It's a fallacy to equate a higher price with a better work of art," says the well-respected artist John Baldessari.

Insanely high prices turn art into a commodity with buzz. Fads and hype trump quality and critical judgment. Gallerygoers flock to see name-brand artists whose works garner the highest prices. Often, they leave disappointed and skeptical.

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