Art: Accessible to All

I recently had the opportunity to gorge on art, both visual and performance, for an entire weekend. Not only was I in my glory, but I also made some interesting observations along the way.

I caught Gerhard Richter’s show at the Marian Goodman Gallery in midtown Manhattan. Richter is a master of the abstract. Large-scale canvases showcase his impeccable palette knife work.

I was particularly impressed by a piece entitled Sinbad (2008), an entire room of colorful lacquer pieces pressed between panes of glass. There are 90 segments, each with a price tag of $1000. Sounds reasonable, until I read that one buyer must purchase the entire collection–for a total of $900,000!

This price seemed steep, until I attended contemporary fine art auctions at Sotheby’s and Christie’s. With works by modern masters such as Robert Rauschenberg, Jeff Koons, and Joan Mitchell, Richter’s Sinbad was a relative bargain!

The 2009 Editions Artists’ Book Fair in Chelsea was a breath of fresh air. Publishers and dealers displayed a variety of prints, some from recently published volumes and others from up-and-coming artists.

The show served as a poignant reminder that some artists make their living entirely from reproductions. This is not necessarily negative. Everyone should be able to own a piece of artwork, should they so desire.

My final venture was Robert Wilson’s Quartett at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Wilson is known for his avant-garde staging, and this production is no exception.

The set is stark and austere; the pulsing lights and repetitive sounds are jarring yet appropriate to the themes of infidelity and betrayal. The play is a remake of Heiner Muller’s script; itself based on the novel Dangerous Liaisons.

Isabelle Huppert, best known for her role in I Heart Huckabees, delivers a brilliant performance. I was deeply moved. And tickets prices are reasonable.

I was pleased to note that affordable visual and performance art does exist in New York City. More expensive art is not necessarily better art. While galleries and auctions have their place, let us not forget that art is and should be accessible to all.