Art & Money Revisited - Artist Profile blasts the art world
Art and Money Revisited: Prices Rise as Taste Plummets. The latest bumper edition of ARTIST PROFILE blasts the art world where prices are reaching absurd new heights at a time when taste in contemporary art is plumbing new depths. #artistprofile @artistprofile
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ARTIST PROFILE principal writer and leading Australian art critic John McDonald recalls the prophetic lamentation of Robert Hughes
in Art and Money in 1984 when it seemed the earth would surely open up and swallow the greedy dealers,
the opportunistic artists, the vulgar, nouveau riche collectors who had wrought such pestilence upon the fair face of Art.
"Thirty-five years later," writes McDonald, "one wonders what Hughes would say about an event such as Art Basel Hong Kong, in which art and money have grown so close that it qualifies as a co-dependent relationship?"
"Since Hughes died in 2012 the contemporary art market has become so supercharged that the leading dealers resemble multinational corporations.
"It's not just a matter of know-nothing collectors paying crazy, inflated prices for bad art; it's knowledgeable, respected institutions setting aside taste and judgement in the search for audiences and income."
ARTIST PROFILE is Australasia's leading quarterly journal, diving into current art world issues and taking its readers into the studios and minds of contemporary artists across Australasia and beyond.
"Thirty-five years later," writes McDonald, "one wonders what Hughes would say about an event such as Art Basel Hong Kong, in which art and money have grown so close that it qualifies as a co-dependent relationship?"
"Since Hughes died in 2012 the contemporary art market has become so supercharged that the leading dealers resemble multinational corporations.
"It's not just a matter of know-nothing collectors paying crazy, inflated prices for bad art; it's knowledgeable, respected institutions setting aside taste and judgement in the search for audiences and income."
ARTIST PROFILE is Australasia's leading quarterly journal, diving into current art world issues and taking its readers into the studios and minds of contemporary artists across Australasia and beyond.
Issue #47 also features:
Features Profiles
- McLean Edwards - The 2019 Sulman Prize winner talks about his highly personal painting practice. Saskia Beudel's profile of the artist - and what he calls the 'emotional larceny' of his three-quarter format, oil paint - reveals dark humour, comic book aesthetics and autobiographical elements throughout his work.
- Michael Candy -Walking light sculptures, robots and a weeping digital empathy device are among the creations of this young Australian artist.
- Teena McCarthy - An Italian/Barkindji artist and poet whose deeply-felt practice weaves together Country, feminism and the Murray Darling River.
- James Drinkwater - For Drinkwater, making art is like strapping yourself to the mast of a ship and setting sail.
- Richard Goodwin - Goodwin's studio is equal parts laboratory, architectural practice, motorbike garage and petrol head paradise.
- Michael Armitage - The Kenyan-born, London-based painter explores his African roots in his first Australian solo show.
Essays + Exhibitions
- Hans and Nora Heysen - An NGV show that presents two generations of Australian painting.
- Samantha Everton - Hyper-real photographic tableaux are brought together in this surreal survey show
- Adam Cullen - John McDonald explores how this 'pitiful narcissist' is (mis)represented in the film Acute Misfortune
- Geoff Dyer - The Hobart artist's portraits are finally being shown together in his home town