to Bucking the Artworld Tide
This book is both a prequel and a sequel to Who Says That’s Art? A Commonsense View of the Visual Arts, published in 2014. It incorporates material predating that work, revealing some of the thinking that led up to it, as well as numerous subsequent articles, talks, and weblog posts that further developed its ideas. In all, it represents more than three decades of writing and speaking on the subject of visual art.
In that time, I have watched and commented with increasing dismay as standards regarding the visual arts have continued to decline in every cultural sphere, from academia and journalism to museum management and K–12 education. Moreover, the breakdown has been global in scope. With scarcely any exceptions, public institutions the world over have uncritically embraced every variety of “cutting-edge” contemporary work, however bizarre—heedless of the extent to which it not only deviates from traditional art (and therefore merits a different name) but also alienates many art lovers. It is as if humanity’s cultural gatekeepers were afflicted with collective amnesia regarding what made visual art valuable in the first place.
I share the view aptly expressed by the critic and art historian John Canaday (1907–1985) that art is “the tangible expression of the intangible values men live by.” Throughout my work, I have sought to show how works of genuine art fulfill that essential function, while the contemporary work that dominates today’s artworld (I call it “pseudo art”) largely fails to do so. In addition, I have aimed to explain why such expressions are important for both individuals and society. Perhaps most important, unlike traditional work the “contemporary art” that fills our museums and galleries does not speak for itself but depends on reams of verbiage to explain it. Much of my writing and speaking has therefore been devoted to debunking the artworld spin on such work.
Many of the pieces included in this volume were first published in Aristos, the arts journal I co-edit with my husband, Louis Torres. They are reprinted here with the permission of the Aristos Foundation. Four of them later appeared in somewhat revised form, with expanded endnotes, in the Arts Education Policy Review, which has kindly granted permission for those versions to be reprinted. The only changes I have made in any of the work are minor—to correct errors or stylistic infelicities, to clarify chronological references, or to insert an informative note or two. No substantive alterations have been made. In all cases, the publication history is indicated on the first page of each piece.
The contents are organized thematically, rather than strictly chronologically. Part I comprises material on art history and individual artists—some whose work I admire, as well as many whose elevated artworld status I question. Part II is devoted to a critique of “abstract (i.e., nonobjective) art.” Art education is the subject of Part III. And Part IV presents articles dealing with theoretical considerations.
Countless friends, colleagues, and relatives, too numerous to list here, have offered interest and support over the years—which has encouraged me in no small measure to stick to my guns. To them, collectively, I extend my warmest gratitude. One person I must name here, however, without whom none of this work would ever have been undertaken. That is my husband, Louis Torres. He not only introduced me to the theory of art that validated and informed my intuitive sense that something was terribly amiss in the avant-garde work that had come to dominate the artworld. He also founded Aristos, the journal that first provided an outlet for my writing on art. My debt to him on that double score is incalculable.
M.M.K. New York City November 20, 2019