I have been finishing off an article about the economic recession and its impact on New York’s art world. In the course of my research I’ve conducted a number of fascinating interviews and one galleryist told me that he felt that the critical establishment would garner more importance as a result of the downturn. Then curiously the next day I asked a longtime critic/friend if she thought that was true and she said something that really got me thinking:
“I think it’s optimistic to think that critics influence what people collect. Collectors are on the boards of museums and that has a lot of influence.”
One response to “Who Influences Collectors?”
This is why normal people don’t get contemporary art. Because it has nothing to do with merit and everything to do with investment.
The YBA scene is a perfect example. Saatchi and theTurner prize judges snap up graduate work from Goldsmiths for basically nothing and then use their influence to increase its value.