Top 10 Art World Announcements of 2010

What a year. Time for A&O to reflect on all that was, and look forward to all that will be in 2011. Here’s our pick of the litter, our top ten art world announcements from 2010. What are yours?

2010 Marked the Death of the Following 20th century Luminaries:

Dennis Hopper

Louise Bourgeois

Harvey Pekar

Frank Frezetta

JD Salinger

Howard Zinn

Alexander McQueen

Censorship Infuriates the Art World

Controversy blazes over the Smithsonian’s censorship of the David Wojnarowicz video piece “A Fire in My Belly” from the Hide/Seek exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery.

Deitch Goes West

Deitch gives up the private sector and moves to the public realm as Director of MOCA in Los Angeles.  As anticipated by detractors and fans alike, he causes quite a stir.

Chaos and Classicism at The Guggenheim

The Guggenheim delivers a curatorial gem.  Chaos and Classicism focuses in on a seldom talked about moment in interwar European art, when a renewed interest in Classical aesthetics reigned.

Despite Economic Factors, Sales at Miami Art Basel Were Strong

Art Sales in Miami challenge, as they have in the past, the state of a globally jeopardized economy.

Bravo TV airs “Work of Art: The Next Great Artist”

Art world heavyweights huddled on couches and crammed into bars to watch and weigh in on the first art-based reality TV show, “Work of Art: The Next Great Artist”.

Scott Campbell Burns Art Over a Dispute with Vice Mexico gallery

After a dispute with Mexico’s Vice Gallery, Scott Campbell took the work from his sold- out show and burned it in the street.

An Art Mogul, the CEO of an Empire, and an Heiress Walk Into a Bar…

Larry Gagosian, Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Russain heiress Dasha Zhukova, Wendi Murdoch (Rupert Murdoch’s wife), and others are teaming up to launch art.sy, an online art sales site that could very well be a game changer.

The First Online Art Fair

New York dealer James Cohan and internet entrepreneur Jonas Almgren announced the impending launch of the first online art fair.

$120 Million Dollar Art Fraud

The art world is hit by a financial schemer, Lawrence Salander, who defrauded his clients out of a total of 120 million dollars.

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Bravo TV to Launch “Work of Art – The Next Great Artist”

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Bravo TV just announced the forthcoming launch of its new competition series, “Work of Art”, that aims to test the talents of 14 artists vying for the grand prize of a solo show at a nationally recognized museum and a cash sum. Among the judges will be Jerry Saltz – my all-time favorite art critic, and Jeanne Greenburg Rohatyn, curator and owner of Salon94 gallery in New York.

The critics responses are rolling in and they aren’t sounding too favorable. I personally appreciate what Brian Moylan writes for The Gawker: “Do you really think Charles Saatchi is going to have Jeff Koons over for margaritas to watch this show to discuss latching on to some undiscovered talent? Lots of art people don’t even own televisions, and if they do it’s so that they can look down on it and never turn it on.”

I question whether the art world at large will take such a show, or its “winner”, very seriously in the long run. The same standards will hold true of the “Work of Art” winner as hold true for working artists everywhere: the work must first be good, and it must continue that way for as long as you intend to have a career. Are these legitimate artists? Maybe. If they’re any good overall, do they need a television show to prove it? Doubtful. Is this show written for the art establishment and its gatekeepers? Certainly not.

It’s important to remember that this is just another television show. This form of media as a whole is faced with the threat of extinction as audience members switch to internet viewing in ever-increasing numbers. In order to compete with new media, the antiquated entertainment outlet opts for programming that shocks, stirs up drama, and portrays a deceitful caricature of reality. Basically, watch it if you find it entertaining. If it annoys you to no end, forget about it – it’s insignificance is obvious and its obsolescence is inevitable. The art world will go on.

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