Dr Powell is in the house. Ha! Thanks Jennifer for this wonderful introduction, and also for your company on this Substack adventure. I'm not self-sustaining (yet) either, but being here has made me write more regularly and write exactly what I want to say rather than what convention requires me to say. And that's joyful.
On the ideas in your post today, sadly I think it is largely true what Martinez says that to be successful today 'is only partly about talent and determination and even more so about the artist’s ability to demand attention through their personality and story.' I wish it wasn't the case but particularly with the rise of video for promotion I wouldn't be at all surprised if vetting the artist's personality wasn't an unspoken factor for big commercial galleries.
So excited to introduce my readers to you and your publication. And, sadly, I agree with you that in the future, commercial art galleries will be asking for an artist's follower count before they ask for a résumé.
I completely understand, because I feel the same way. But one of the things I try to do with OOTB is to show that the commercial art market—as it is in all of its disgrace—is not the main avenue through which an artist can reach people who genuinely care about art. I think of the commercial art world exactly the same was I think about the stock market, which is to say that it's governed primarily by the whims of white, privileged men.
But artists have the opportunity to connect with audiences in so many new ways that it gives me hope for what artists can achieve and the profound changes to culture that they can make, without having to participate in the speculative art market.
That seems like a smart and intuitive understanding of where the most support for an artistic practice lies. It lies with other artists and art appreciators who are not trying to leverage work for profit.
There is so much worthy of paying attention to here, and so much work to be done in the larger arena, but at the moment I’m just sad for anyone who didn’t get the Janet Jackson reference.
Dr Powell is in the house. Ha! Thanks Jennifer for this wonderful introduction, and also for your company on this Substack adventure. I'm not self-sustaining (yet) either, but being here has made me write more regularly and write exactly what I want to say rather than what convention requires me to say. And that's joyful.
On the ideas in your post today, sadly I think it is largely true what Martinez says that to be successful today 'is only partly about talent and determination and even more so about the artist’s ability to demand attention through their personality and story.' I wish it wasn't the case but particularly with the rise of video for promotion I wouldn't be at all surprised if vetting the artist's personality wasn't an unspoken factor for big commercial galleries.
So excited to introduce my readers to you and your publication. And, sadly, I agree with you that in the future, commercial art galleries will be asking for an artist's follower count before they ask for a résumé.
This is just... heartbreaking. As an artist, at this point I feel like I cannot even orient one iota towards the art world. What's the point.
I completely understand, because I feel the same way. But one of the things I try to do with OOTB is to show that the commercial art market—as it is in all of its disgrace—is not the main avenue through which an artist can reach people who genuinely care about art. I think of the commercial art world exactly the same was I think about the stock market, which is to say that it's governed primarily by the whims of white, privileged men.
But artists have the opportunity to connect with audiences in so many new ways that it gives me hope for what artists can achieve and the profound changes to culture that they can make, without having to participate in the speculative art market.
Truth. In reality it just affirms that I've kept my nose out of that commercial world for as long as I've considered myself an artist anyway. <3
That seems like a smart and intuitive understanding of where the most support for an artistic practice lies. It lies with other artists and art appreciators who are not trying to leverage work for profit.
There is so much worthy of paying attention to here, and so much work to be done in the larger arena, but at the moment I’m just sad for anyone who didn’t get the Janet Jackson reference.
Thank you for being the greatest person on earth.
This post is so spot on it is painful. Thank you, Jennifer, for continuing to be amazing and contributing so much to this insane world.