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| Jeff Koons bag for Luis Vuitton |
The other day I was
mindlessly scrolling through social media when I saw a link for an article by
Ben Davis in artnet entitled, Do
You Have To Be Rich To Make It As An Artist? I read it and only after
finishing reading it did I realize it was from January 2016, which doesn’t make
too much of a difference but it feels just as topical a subject/question to ask
today. So I got to thinking about this idea, as this is something I have had so
many conversations about though the years.
So, does being rich help you
be successful in the art world? Yes, duh, of course it does but let’s unpack
that and see what that means and to what degree.
Many times this question is
more specially asked in relationship to artists like Davis’ article
articulates. Does coming from wealth, like a lot of wealth, make it easier for you to be an artist? Yes, of course it
does.
First it helps because art
costs money to make. The more you have of it the better and to a higher degree
of intricacy and professionalism can you make or have something produced.
Second, It takes money to
have space. Studio space is expensive, especially in a place like NYC, and to
have space is key to also having room to think and to not have restrictions of
scale.
Third, money gives you time.
That is a key element to it all. Having time to not having to work a day job in
which you need/must work, 40 hours or
otherwise. It gives you liberty to really work out ideas, to go to shows and be
inspired, or whatever happens when you look at art, and to travel, and to move
freely in the world that is not conditioned by making a paycheck.
Lastly, most importantly,
money gives you a type of bravery. Not having to worry about money, time, space
and to be able to be one’s optimal self allows for a type of risk taking which
is so conducive to ‘creativity’ that one might say that it is at it’s core.
The above cases for why
having money is beneficial to artists is transferable to other art practitioners. Gallerists, curators, theorists, critics, all else is made vastly
easier, more accessible and swifter if you have time, space and mental liberty
to experiment, take risks and to be entrepreneurial.
This is all so blatantly
obvious, it might seem redundant to parse out but there is another angle to
this as well. Having money, a lot of money, does make it easier but it doesn’t
always work or stick. There are/have been/will be many artists past, present
and future who have a lot of money who want to be in the art world in someway
or another. And the truth is most don’t stick if their work is bad, their taste
is bad, or they just can’t hack it. The art world wants rich people to
participate and play. I mean, that’s who the real audience and reason this is all
for. The uber rich supporting this thing called ‘art’ is what makes the whole
machine work. But just because you are rich doesn’t mean you get a complete
pass. Thankfully.
But, yes, we have all seen so
many bad artists, bad spaces, bad projects helmed by this or that person who
seems to just keep sticking around even though they really are not adding much
to anything and we all know why they have this strange staying power but that
happens, and it always will so there’s that.
What rubs me is the reverse
of this. When poor artists are taken up by this rarified art world of ours and
it is used to be exampled in a way. Like a ‘look, we support artists from
here/there, who have this/that story, so that proves we are not elitist,’ or
something along those lines.
The other thing that really
rubs me is when super rich (or even really well off) people don’t think that
being so allows them privileges, liberties and frankly a tipping of the scales.
If you can take a year off and live somewhere else to read about semiotics and
not have to work or take out loans, you are privileged. If you can hire a
studio assistant to help you edit a video or make a sculpture for a show in
which you probably won’t sell anything but will get rave reviews and you don’t
have a side hustle, then you are privileged. If you work and support yourself
month to month and do the hard work like everyone else but you have a trust fund waiting in the wings, you are privileged.
You are and that’s great for you but just admit it! You don’t necessarily have
to wear a stigmata of fortunes and family net worth on your sleeve but know it
and understand what that means.
Art is a rich person (usually
man’s) game and it has been and always will be. Us bleeding heart liberals
can’t go around thinking we are some anti-capitalist saints. We are all
participants in the most egregious form of cultural elitism. But we need to air
this house out! It’s so gauche to talk about money and art. We want to treat it
like some Athena sprouted whole and immaculate from the head of Zeus but alas
we are far from that and never were or will be.
To all the rich and privileged
artists out there, I don’t hold it against you. You were born into something
and it’s cool that you are doing the art thing because hell, you could be
putting all that capital and self into something worse, but come on, be honest
about it. Everyone will respect you more for it. And if you are really rich and
your art and taste suck, then yeah, just bow out and do something else with all
that time and money, like buy art from those that don’t have that liberty.
To all the poor to truly self-sustaining
artists and art world people, keep trucking. It’s stacked, and the more
adjectives of race, gender all else will make the scales tipped even less in
your favor but don’t let that demoralize you, and also don’t use that as an
excuse. If you make good art and have some luck on your side, you’re successes
will be even sweeter.
Money makes everything funny.
I’ve said it for years and I’ll keep saying it. What’s important is that there
is transparency. Let’s air it out, let’s admit what we have, what that means
and how that changes how we live life, interact with art and how that
positively or negatively upholds or continues structures of access and power.
Super wealthy, very rich,
middle class, broke, poor, whatever you are or have been or will be doesn’t
define you but whatever it is, make good art and support good art, with
everything you have, even if it’s nothing sometimes.
