in her new book get the picture, Journalist Bianca Bosker explores why connecting with art can sometimes feel more difficult than it needs to be. Above, visitors view paintings at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in London in 2010.
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in her new book get the picture, Journalist Bianca Bosker explores why connecting with art can sometimes feel more difficult than it needs to be. Above, visitors view paintings at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in London in 2010.
Peter McDiarmid/Getty Images
When Bianca Bosker told people in the art world that she was going to write an exposé about their confusing and exclusive ecosystem, they responded, “That's a bad idea.”
“They didn't come out right away and threaten my safety or anything,” she wrote. get that picture“My reputation, my happiness, my livelihood as a journalist, but that was a different story.” Judging by recent reviews of the book, she doesn't have much to worry about.
Part of Bosker's motivation for writing this book was frustration. “I didn't know how to have a meaningful experience with art, and that bothered me,” she says. They acted as if they had access to a trapdoor in their brains, and I was jealous of that. ”
Other journalists may have relied on investigations and interviews. Bossker went for a gonzo shoot. She spent her five years immersed in the New York art scene, working as a gallery assistant and assisting artists in their studios. After she obtained her New York state security guard license, she took a job as a security guard at the Guggenheim Museum.
Bosker didn't necessarily set out to write criticism of the art world, but the result is exactly that. She writes about the time her performance artist sat on her face. And she recounts her conversation with a dealer who told her that just having her (he didn't like her clothes) was “degrading my cool.” It's raw, awkward, and eye-opening.
hostile border
“While working in galleries, I learned how the art world strategically uses snobbery to keep people out, and I think that's intentional and unnecessary,” Bosker says. .
Let's take as an example the writing on the walls that you often see in museums. While they may be well-intentioned, Bosker believes they are part of an overemphasis. context.
“For the past 100 years or so, we've been told that what really matters in a work of art is the idea behind it.” He was very interested in questions such as “who attended the school, who owns the work, which galleries it was exhibited in, and who he slept with.'' He said he was “surprised that there were so few.'' [time they] In fact, we spent some time discussing the work itself. ”
“I thought of those wall labels as something annoying, like a hostile border. It just drove me nuts.”
On a recent visit to the Guggenheim Museum, we saw a museum that included phrases like:
“…the practice explores the liminal spaces of human consciousness…”
Bossker trembles. “If I had a dollar for every time someone in the art world used the word 'liminal,'” she laughs. One artist she worked with told her, “'Reading the labels on the wall is like trying to have a conversation with her work, but someone keeps interrupting.'”
As a museum security guard, Bosker sometimes took matters into his own hands.
“I actually tried standing in front of the labels on the wall so that people don't rely on approved interpretations. People challenge themselves and seriously wrestle with their own eyes, which are very strong. ” she says.
Small galleries intentionally keep out 'schmoes''
If museums can offend some people, Bosker has learned, small contemporary art museums can do even worse. The store we visited in downtown Manhattan was difficult to find. That's typical, Bosker explains.
She says that many galleries “deliberately… hide themselves from the general public…I worked for someone who called the general public 'Joe Schmoes,' but there are many ways to keep Schmoes and people out.” I think there is,” he said. where Your gallery is big. ”
Now, to be fair, these galleries are in the business of selling art.
Gallery owner Robert Dimin likes how Bianca Bosker reveals 'our opaque art world' in new book get that picture.
Dimin
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Dimin
Rob Dimin, another gallery owner for whom Mr. Bosker worked, doesn't call the public “schmoes,” but he likes the secluded nature of his new gallery. It's on the second floor of a building, with just a small plaque posted at the entrance.
Dimin's last gallery was in-store. “you [were] “People are more likely to stumble in, perhaps with no intention or idea of art, or who aren't really interested in art,” he says. [were] When we were on the street level, it was an open space so even on rainy days people were coming in and just having phone conversations. ”
People who come into galleries to shelter from the rain are usually not interested in buying art. But Mr. Dimin acknowledged that the art world was “opaque” and said he was glad Mr. Bosker was clarifying that. There are parts of him that he doesn't understand either.
“Even as an art dealer, it can be confusing sometimes,” he says. “Why are X, Y, and Z artists being acquired by all the museums and having exhibitions in them? What’s so difficult about it for someone like me who has been in this field? 10 I can imagine someone who has been in business for years and is not in this industry having an even harder time.”
How to have meaningful experiences with art
Deliberately confusing, elitist, and closed-minded. Bosker's new book compares the art world to a “country club,” but he says his feelings for art itself have not diminished.
“Watching artists in the studio worry about the right color of blue and the physics of making things stick, place, and stay in place, I realized that what it takes to have a meaningful experience with art is We really believed it was all in front of us,” Bosker said.
Bianca Bosker gets a close look at Julian Swartz's work at New York gallery Bienvenue Steinberg & J. She says Bosker says she is “okay to walk around the sculptures… just don't touch them.”
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Bianca Bosker gets a close look at Julian Swartz's work at New York gallery Bienvenue Steinberg & J. She says Bosker says she is “okay to walk around the sculptures… just don't touch them.”
Elizabeth Blair/NPR
Here, she offers some tips for readers looking to avoid snobbery.
slow down
“My philosophy when going to museums has always been…a scorched-earth approach to viewing. It's like, 'You have to see everything. Then you'll get your money's worth.'” Bosker says. says, “I'm tired of museums.'' This is the real deal and comparable to eating everything at an all-you-can-eat buffet. “No wonder you feel a little sick at the end.”
“If you find a piece of work and spend a full 30 minutes, an hour, an hour and a half on it, you've done it, and I think that's often a much more meaningful experience. ”
find 5 things
“An artist I spent time with encouraged me to notice five things in front of the work, and those five things don't have to be grandiose: ' This is a commentary on masculinity in the age of the internet.’” Maybe it’s something that makes you want to touch the color yellow. ” Bosker believes that taking the time to notice these things can help viewers think about the choices artists have made.
“I think being around art ultimately helps broaden and expand the definition of what beauty is. And I think beauty is the moment when your heart jumps over the curb. It's uncomfortable. “Sometimes we feel like we're missing something, but it's also what draws us to it.” “It's something we all need more of in our lives, and art can be a gateway to finding more of it. It doesn't have to happen in a beautiful piece of art.”
Get as close to the source as possible
“What we see when we go to a museum is not necessarily the best that that culture has to offer. … It is the result of many decisions by flawed human beings. One way to get around that is to broaden your horizons… go see art at an art school, go see art at a gallery in your garage, and try to get closer to the source.”
This story was edited for audio and digital by Rose Friedman. This webpage was created by Beth Novey.
