| The Art of Redressing |
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Roosje Nieuwendijk, "Portrait" 2001, gouache, 9 x 11 cm, frame by the Fake Dyke Workshop |
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Come on chaps, just spit it out, I know you can do it, all together now: "We consider ourselves way above camping out in the KunstRai (Art RAI) halls alongside such crappy neighbours." *) It'd suit me just fine if you simply came out and said it. For years and years it's been my firm belief that this is exactly what you must have been thinking all along, although nobody ever said it out loud. Whether I personally consider such a standpoint to be obnoxious is subservient to the ups and downs of the world of art, or rather, the world at large, so if it were to benefit the world if galleries that have the gall to market their realist works were branded questionable and vulgar, by all means count on me acquitting myself of my humble duties with maximum conviction. Once you have experienced the immense satisfaction of enabling other people to believe that it's you who is making it possible for them to pour out their heart and rest their weary head on your shoulder, you'll put the notion that your predilection could to date have prompted radically different conclusions out of your mind once and for all. For that's what is so curious about all of this: I know a group of very different people whose Art RAI comments are more or less similar, except that they are talking about galleries of the "Art Amsterdam" school of thought. Not that I agree with them (it's on occasions such as these that the educationalist in me tends to rebel), but I'm sure you won't blame me for thinking that it would be the preferred option for them not to believe that other people agree with what they have to say. After all, there's plenty of confusion as it is. On second thought and in view of recent trends, I do not labour under the illusion that it will make much difference, as the umpteenth chapter in the never-ending dance of the art fairs, but that is something I hope to report on next week. *) In response to an article by Marina de Vries in Het Parool (17 February 2002) entitled "KunstRai kan wel inpakken" ("The Art RAI has had it"), excerpts from same: Fons Welters on the Art RAI: "I'd hate to consort with it"; Hannie Loerakker: "Decidedly pedestrian affair". Postscript One week later and I'm sitting here, going over the above text and wondering what I was getting so hot under the collar about - I won't even be there at this year's Art RAI, although I might decide to go next year (a biennale type of set-up being my preferred option), and am therefore a minor stakeholder at best, which should in theory make it that much easier for me to formulate an objective point of view. Let's not indulge in further verbosity and get down to the nitty-gritty, which is my apprehension when coming across people who feel that someone or something is "below their station". In society, some strata can be seen as forming part of regular social interaction. These are essentially harmless and competition-related. Things start getting out of hand as soon as external characteristics come into play: the scene then shifts to one of discrimination or pretend superiority, in any event in so far as it is anchored in social structures. It is the latter which harbour particularly nasty threats, and it is these that I feel I have identified. Then again, an alternative explanation could be that having fallen victim to this very phenomenon in the past - which by the way implicitly proves that these excesses are real, which in turn justifies my exaggerated texts - I have been guilty of going over the top. The upshot of all of this being that it has transpired to me that my line of reasoning so far has been inadequate in getting you on side. |