Whither Contemporary Art in 2013? (Never Mind the Bubble Talk)

— THE BIG STORY —

Last year the art market pulled in $64 billion in sales—beating out the equities market, according to Artlyst—and the New York Times is kicking off the new year with an online "Sunday Dialogue" to ask a time-honored question: Is there an art bubble? Posing this chestnut is one William Cole, a writer "working on a book about art connoisseurship," and he strongly insinuates that the answer is yes, with engineered "hype" tricking the market to "the point where people pay tens of millions of dollars for works by the likes of Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Damien Hirst." He adds these types of artists today "generally avoid[] pharaonic works, focusing instead on mass-produced kitsch." What both the question and the way it is phrased ignore is that a seismic, fundamental shift in the way the art world operates is underway, and this warrants some explaining.

Let's begin with the word "kitsch." In his 1939 essay "The Avant-Garde and Kitsch," the art critic Clement Greenberg famously positioned kitsch—or "ersatz culture," created for a mass audience—as in opposition to "genuine culture," as epitomized by an artistic avant-garde that "soberly" explores the critical issues of the day while keeping in mind the lessons of art history. Greenberg writes: "Kitsch's enormous profits are a source of temptation to the avant-garde itself, and its members have not always resisted this temptation.... The net result is always to the detriment of true culture in any case." What Cole fails to understand is that this is simply no longer the case, and that pursuing a mass audience often now can be an enlightened aspect of the avant-garde.

Replace Basquiat with Murakami in Cole's list of unworthies and you actually are left with four historic figures who have paved the way for a generation of younger artists—not with their work, primarily, but in the way they have revolutionized how artists can engage with their market. Fashion companies have long sought to infiltrate culture and make money by having both a couture or prestige line—priced for only the wealthy elite to afford—and a diffusion line that is affordable for a wider audience. Following the lead of Warhol (whose indispensable stature is gamely defended in the Times by Warhol Museum director Eric Shiner), Hirst, Murakami, and Koons have not only embraced mass production, they've made their industrial pursuit of the mass audience a core part of their practice.

For instance, you can buy a Hirst spot painting for millions of dollars, or you can buy an "I 'Spot' DH" mug for $28; you can buy a towering Koons puppy sculpture for millions, or you can buy a porcelain version for a few hundred; you can buy a Murakami sculpture for millions, or you can buy one of his handbags for Louis Vuitton—which he sold in a store as part of his 2008 "@Murakami" retrospective—for about a thousand. All of these artists went mass through the auspices of Gagosian Gallery, and all of them now operate more or less as free agents—and that's because they did something the Marx-quoting Greenberg would approve of, taking control of their means of production and distribution.

How does this relate to the avant-garde? In terms of addressing the issues of the present day, none is more transformative than the rise of the Internet and social media, which have empowered individuals to reach a mass audience without having to through traditional modes of distribution. This approach is changing the way that musicians (Lana del Rey) and writers (E.L. James, whose Fifty Shades of Grey was first published as an e-book) are finding success, and artists are beginning to find success online as well (in part through sites like Artspace). Combining the power of the Web with the fashion-influenced market models adapted by Hirst, Koons, and Murakami has opened the door for younger emerging artists—like Bjarne Melgaard, for instance, who offers his work through a Web site of his own—unprecedented flexibility in how to enter the culture at large while earning a living. The old art-market system remains incredibly important in establishing prices and shepherding careers, of course, but alternative paths and strategies are emerging.

This is all to say that "pharaonic works" and the mass works Cole dismissively calls "kitsch" are no longer incompatible within an artist's practice, and are instead a highly desirable strategic pairing for an artist who wants to both make uncompromising prestige work—the "couture" line—and make a living, without having to be supported by one of the world's major galleries. The result promises to open up the gates to more art careers, more diverse types of new art—among which will be the seeds of a new avant-garde. To end on the same note as Cole, but with a vastly different spin: Who says the art market wasn't democratic?

— QUOTE OF THE WEEK —

"[What will be next year's hot app?] Artspace.com—it will make contemporary art by great artists accessible to so many people who admire it but have been deterred from buying due to high price points and a lack of transparency in the gallery system… [Also] I think David Zwirner will overcome Larry Gagosian as the number one gallerist in the world. This would be a significant industry shift." — Baibakov Art Projects founder Maria Baibakova in an interview predicting 2013 art trends with For Your Art founder Bettina Korek

— MUST READ —

Art Comes to Taxi TV! — Now Jimmy Kimmel's comedic stylings will be joined by a series of video art works—courtesy of the Art Production Fund—beginning with a rather naughty Ryan McGinley video of a girl skipping through the streets of New York wearing only a blue t-shirt and a gold wig, which will play through February 5. (NYT)

Before There Was "Girls," There Were "Divas" — Jori Finkel takes a moment to look back on modern Renaissance woman (think Michelangelo in a frumpy sweater and sensible leggings) Lena Dunham's first foray into awkward art-world hilarity, the Web series "Delusional Downtown Divas." (LAT)

The Return of Ragnar — To mark Ragnar Kjartansson's return to New York with a show at Luhring Augustine, Hilarie Sheets profiles the artist whose "wide appeal... lies in an ability not just to invoke the deep existential concerns of much endurance-based performance art—anxiety, ennui, other discomfort—but also to push beyond them, toward joy." (NYT)

"An Enfant Terrible of the Downtown Art World" — A new one has come along in the person of Andrea Mary Marshall, a young photographer and multimedia artist whose lurid, often erotic self-portraits and other works have been embraced by the fashion set, and will reappear in her upcoming show at Allegra LaViola Gallery. (NYT)

Watch Steve McCurry on His 2013 Pirelli Calendar — The legendary Magnum war photographer discusses his decision not to shoot naked supermodels for the tire company's notoriously racy calendar but rather to create portraits of fully-clothed beautiful women who champion humanitarian causes. (FashionChannel)

Some Light Reading — To brighten up the dark days of winter, the New York Times's quartet of art critics looked around a few New York museums—and the Yale University Art Gallery, oddly—for works that tackle the idea of luminosity in interesting ways, and their thought-provoking choices are far from obvious ones (no MoMA PS1Turrell, for instance). (NYT)

Spook-y — Apparently the FBI paid the artist Omar Fast a rather intimidating visit—replete with "suggestive, spy-movie language"—while he was researching military drones, something he did for stunning 2011 film 5000 Feet Is the Best, which was shown in the 2011 Venice Biennale. (Art Newspaper)

Tumblr Cracks Down on "Questionable" Art — The blogging service said in a release this week that "it's unfortunate, and certainly not what we would have chosen, but for future reference, no boobs, no butts, no anything that could be described as genitalia in the curated tags are allowed to be promoted any longer. Even if it can be considered art, it still doesn't fly with Apple/Android terms and conditions. It's incredibly important to us that the Tumblr apps remain available in their App stores, so please err on the side of caution. If it seems questionable, don't promote it." (Press Release)

Maybe If They Spent a Few More Years Dematerializing It... — Chloe Wyma considers the legacy of Lucy Lippard's Six Years: The Dematerialization of the Art Object, which is now the subject of a Brooklyn Museum show, and concludes that today we can finally "accept that it’s impossible, even undesirable, to transcend the art object, without succumbing to commodity fetishism wrapped in the bacon of seductive metaphysics." (Artinfo)

— ART MARKET —

How Will the Fiscal Cliff Deal Affect the Art Market? — Here are six possible ways. (Artinfo)

Armory Show Sale Expected This Month — The paperwork on Louise Blouin's purchase of the storied art fair (along with Volta and Art Platform: Los Angeles) will be signed soon according to Carol Vogel, who adds that this year's edition will feature an unusual number of solo artist booths to avoid "presenting art in a slice-and-dice manner," in the words of Armory spokeswoman Allison Rodman. (NYT)

Storm-Hit 27th Street Galleries to Reopen — The five Chelsea galleries off of 11th Avenue that were especially battered by Hurricane Sandy—Wallspace, Foxy Production, Derek Eller, Jeff Bailey, and Winkleman—will reopen with exciting shows on Saturday, January 12. (Gallerist NY)

Artists Enter Wallpaper Biz — Wallpaper art is no longer just the domain of artists like Thomas Bayrle and Richard Woods, with several printing companies partnering with a wide range of other contemporary stars to create pricey wall-to-wall home furnishings. (WSJ)

A Simon de Pury Retrospective — Sarah Douglas takes a lingering look at the star auctioneer's 12-year stint at the head of Phillips de Pury (now just Phillips), and its a winding saga with glamorous foreign locales and such dramatic personae as Louise Blouin, Daniella Luxembourg (now of the terrifically chic Luxembourg & Dayan gallery), LVMH owner Bernard Arnault, former Stasi agent Bernd Runge, dashing private dealer Philippe Ségalot, Baron Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza, and dynamic new Phillips CEO Michael McGinnis, who says he will be "streamlining" the house's operations "to provide the best auction experience in 20th- and 21st-century art." (Gallerist NY)

— IN & OUT —

Artist Joyce Pensato has been named winner of the 2012 Robert De Niro Sr. Prize in painting, an annual $25,000 award in honor of the famed actor's late artist father. (Press Release)

Mazel tov to Beth Rudin DeWoody, eminent art collector and mother of Grey Area's Kyle DeWoody (among other accomplishments), on her new marriage to Condé Nast photographer Firooz Zahedi, who not too long ago thrilled audiences with a show of his 1976 photos of Elizabeth Taylor in Iran. (NYT)

Meanwhile, the artist duo Tim Noble and Sue Webster, who were a couple for 20 years before getting married by Brit art high priestess Tracey Emin in 2008, have filed for divorce. (Telegraph)

Meanwhile #2, Tracey Emin has been named a Commander of the British Empire, and so has Tate deputy director Alex Beard, so pip pip for them. (Art Newspaper)

Drawings have been found showing that the original inspiration for Superman's chiseled appearance was Stanley Weiss, a 24-year-old Jewish guy from around the neighborhood where Man of Steel creator Joe Shuster used to live. (NYT)

Karma books, the cult-favorite destination for all manner of edgy art books and editions, is relocating to Ugo Rondinone's former studio space on 39 Great Jones Street. (Gallerist NY)

Kosovo has selected Petrit Halilaj to represent the country in this year's Venice Biennale. (Art Review)

The post-punk dance band Liars will play the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Temple of Dendur on May 18 as part of the museum’s “PUNK: Chaos to Couture” exhibition. (Gallerist NY)

The Web site Art.sy has pulled out of Syria (where its domain name was registered to allow for the ".sy" flourish) as the country's brutal conflict intensifies, transferring operations to the good old USA at ".net." (TechCrunch)