What does it mean when the world’s second-richest art dealer, David Zwirner, lends his capital and influence to the creation of an “all-black” art gallery?
This is definitely a topic worth exploring more in depth. The problem is of course in focusing so much on the very top of the art world, which will almost always present a skewed POV from which to critique the whole of the art world, which is not as unified as one might think. For example, the art world has a terrible track record when it comes to aiding and abetting in gentrification of neighborhoods, but it is also a fetishized subject within the art world that gets hotly debated every time it comes up and the art world tends to flagellate and self-critique itself with as much zeal as it does now over race and representation. Zwirner and Gagosian are only a small handful of art dealers who have massively benefited from covid and the subsequent BLM protests turned branded intellectual property. The top of the art world is awash in money right now, but the middle and the bottom are either struggling or entirely shut down, many for good. 70% of San Francisco artists have left town and there's an ill conceived UBI proposal on the table that would give a lucky 130 artists $1000/month to live in the most expensive city in the US. That's just for perspective. How will these artists be chosen? Merit? Class? Race? Religious affiliation? What is termed 'blackwashing' is simply another, most likely toothless, criticism of the way that the art world does business at the very top. Clement Greenberg was already making connections between the art world and money in the 1930s and that's what it comes down to in the end. I have numerous articles and essays floating around related to the art world and its (dis)contents. Right now what we're seeing is a coming wave of Robin D'angelo style racism awareness HR training coming down the pike at every major and minor university and art museum. So in essence it will be figures like Zwirner and Gagosian that will be used as the guiding light behind all the 'good' that is happening within the art world. We're truly in an upside down world.
This is definitely a topic worth exploring more in depth. The problem is of course in focusing so much on the very top of the art world, which will almost always present a skewed POV from which to critique the whole of the art world, which is not as unified as one might think. For example, the art world has a terrible track record when it comes to aiding and abetting in gentrification of neighborhoods, but it is also a fetishized subject within the art world that gets hotly debated every time it comes up and the art world tends to flagellate and self-critique itself with as much zeal as it does now over race and representation. Zwirner and Gagosian are only a small handful of art dealers who have massively benefited from covid and the subsequent BLM protests turned branded intellectual property. The top of the art world is awash in money right now, but the middle and the bottom are either struggling or entirely shut down, many for good. 70% of San Francisco artists have left town and there's an ill conceived UBI proposal on the table that would give a lucky 130 artists $1000/month to live in the most expensive city in the US. That's just for perspective. How will these artists be chosen? Merit? Class? Race? Religious affiliation? What is termed 'blackwashing' is simply another, most likely toothless, criticism of the way that the art world does business at the very top. Clement Greenberg was already making connections between the art world and money in the 1930s and that's what it comes down to in the end. I have numerous articles and essays floating around related to the art world and its (dis)contents. Right now what we're seeing is a coming wave of Robin D'angelo style racism awareness HR training coming down the pike at every major and minor university and art museum. So in essence it will be figures like Zwirner and Gagosian that will be used as the guiding light behind all the 'good' that is happening within the art world. We're truly in an upside down world.
https://www.tompazderka.substack.com/