A short explanation of current thinking. Many of you are not aware of the long history of the New Art Examiner. The Art World is very complex
and diffi cult. It is also a billion dollar industry that gets its raw material from artists who permanently supply Art, whether good or bad, in the hope that one day they may earn a living or recognition for their particular creativity.
Art criticism has a bad name which in the opinion of this writer is a cultural disaster for which their are many contributing factors. In large
part the failure of Art education, both in secondary school and even more so on the University Campus. In short the system is
eating itself. The complexities of the elite market, as opposed to the ‘community market’ is just a reflection of the broken and fragmented society. Art belongs to all but cannot straddle the class divide.
The idea of individualism fi rst considered in history by Socrates, but was practiced before by early humans who decided to leave a visual
experience on the walls of the cave. This idea has survived or underscored human history and has political expression as Art as a social activity. The
artist as the romantic heron true to self, is still with us and acts as a refuge for the lonely soul. Therefore young people attend Art School. How
does Art School teach the corruption of the Art World and therefore teach a confident professionalism?
Frankly I do not know. I know it is the training ground for the managers of the Art World. Curators, other Museum and academic personnel who have to walk the line with the pressure of money, while serving the public.
Here in Cornwall where the scene is about to emerge from the wings of provincialism onto center stage, it is more than interesting. Power
and Infl uence can raise a mediocre artist from obscurity to high status and the scramble is hectic.
It did before in the Victorian Academy and the then named celebrity artists are now footnotes of history. The opening of the St Ives Tate, an outpost of the power base in London, has had a profound effect in that the Museum will and does draw punters to the town looking for quality and authentic
contemporary Art. It is the major hub of influence and will give visual meaning inside the complicated power arrangements that now structure the Art World.
Art needs Art criticism particularity in our frenzied world over washed with celebrity culture. The future of quality Art , will be the struggle for
cultural authenticity inside or resisting the banal requirements of a market driven by manipulation of the vanity of depleted egos that are happy to ride any wave of Fashion. The New Art Examiner looks forward to hosting future debates on Art and its discontents. Sometimes history tells us discontents become important artists.
Derek Guthrie
Publisher
Volume 30 No. 1 August / September 2015 page 4