Art Critic Jerry Saltz is licking the salt from his Work of Art: The Next Great Artist wounds.

Art Critic Jerry Saltz appears to have endured a few professional barbs due to his involvement with Bravo’s Work of Art: The Next Great Artist. The reality show pitted fourteen emerging artists against each other for a $100,000 prize and an exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum. Now that the first season is over-- Saltz is licking his wounds in that he is admitting-- at least from what I gather from his article-- that Work of Art: The Next Great Artist was a bad move for the respectability of art and perhaps a bad move for his career as an art critic.

Online Art Galleries -- Who is represented by online art galleries and how has this changed the way art is collected and critiqued?

If you go online and google “fine art online galleries” you will find a page filled with names of established galleries. It may be difficult to find a gallery that gives major support to the artist because a gallery is in the business to sell art and always has been. I thought I would find a different field of art and collectors on these types of web galleries, but I didn’t. In the galleries it is “business as usual.” For example, artnet.com says “The Network serves dealers and art buyers alike,” it says nothing about supporting artists’ ideas, works and talents.

This didn’t really surprise me but for some reason I thought the internet would host a multitude of artists’ communities.
Some of the work for sale on that site is antique art, design galleries and decorative art; however, there is no physical address for the site. It represents established galleries all over the world. I browsed through and looked at the online auctions to see what’s for sale. It was worth looking at the art and seeing the prices set for this online auction. Over 300 pieces were exhibited for sale with an auction deadline. This sort of auction is set up much like EBay were you submit a bid and wait for the deadline. I don’t know if works of art are flying off the virtual wall or not, but I do know after the show they won’t have to spackle and paint. This recent form of online gallery is not a new trend it is the wave of the future.

I would like to say that the internet should be owned by “the people” but that is just my ideological way of saying there is no corporate enterprise gaining from its use. Well, I know that isn’t true but I like to think the mass majority controls what is important.

When I get a chance to browse through art gallery sites I get lost in the individual pieces that relate to my inner senses. Don’t get me wrong, I love going to gallery openings and sitting in front of works of art contemplating. I get excited when museums bring rare arts I would never be able to see if not for the work of all the dedicated curators.

Because I live on the West Coast of the U.S., I tend to look at sites where I may be able to visit if I just have to go see the work. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art site caught my eye one day and it had a large collection of images I recognized. I found a particular artist’s work I hadn’t seen in years. The excitement I had over discovering that he was still working in the same medium and had some recent work I could study, gave me a feeling of gratitude.

The internet helps me discovery artist I know and opens my awareness to know works. In the past, I may have never been able to know such art and artists existed. The multitude of art sites gives me a chance to explore new and exciting spaces.

Some of the most intriguing of my discoveries were on MYARTSPACE.com. A host of emerging, current and established artist peaked my interest so much one night I spent hours scouring over the works and being mesmerized by what I was viewing.

Now, it only takes me a few minutes to find someone with ideas I can relate to by browsing on MYARTSPACE.com. I have found no other sites like this, and I am sure, the number of artists who post their work to be viewed by millions, give them a feeling of accomplishment and some much needed cash selling their own work. This site gives fine artists their own wall on a page as if it was their personal website and they get to show what is important to them. Thousands and thousands of artists can respond to the world with no huge entry fee.

I fully understand there is nothing compared to viewing a physical piece of artwork but I can pinpoint works of profound creativity in just a few minutes. Sure, I can go the museum sites, gallery sites or sites like artnet to lull my senses, but nothing can replicate the sheer delight I have when I find a piece of art work on MYARTSPACE.com that is so compelling I just have to study it in detail.

This is why I enjoy the intimacy of the internet, even though it is called the World-Wide-Web, I can view and linger as long as I want. Because of this connection I feel like I just tapped into the future. Having a site like MYARTSPACE.com is helping keep the “medium as the message” by giving to the majority of the artists critiquing the artistic relevance.

Jenny Harris
Senior Editor
MYARTSPACE.com

The Future of Art Criticism: Art Critic Jerry Saltz Interacts on Social Network

Facebook Screengrab AFC / www.artfagcity.com

Notable art critics can be tougher to reach than the President-- or a former President for that matter. That said, I noticed that Paddy Johnson from Art Fag City picked up on an interesting online debate spurred by art critic Jerry Saltz. Art bloggers often mention how Saltz interacts with his followers on various social networks-- in this case he asked an open question focused on which art critics and art publications his ‘friends’ and ‘followers’ liked best. (My understanding is that he asked the questions on Facebook and Twitter).

Apparently Saltz was a bit puzzled at the fact that most of the people who commented liked ArtForum, but were not exactly fans of ArtForum critics. From what I gathered art critic Dave Hickey was the favored art critic among those who commented. There were also a number of art blogs mentioned-- which reveals the changing 'landscape' of art criticism in general. I think it is great that Saltz is open to this form of debate and feedback.

Saltz has reach online and offline...

Jerry Saltz, a senior art critic for New York Magazine, is often quoted for having said, "We live in a Wikipedia art world. Twenty years ago, there were only four to five encyclopedias--and I tried to get into them. Now, all writing is in the Wikipedia. Some entries are bogus, some are the best. We live in an open art world.".

It should be noted that Saltz has been nominated three times for a Pulitzer Prize in Criticism-- it should also be noted that art bloggers-- and online critics / journalists in general-- can now be considered for a Pulitzer Prize. Yes, the art world is open-- the world is open. The credentials of old are just that-- old. The future is open to a new wave of opinions.

Today any critic can establish a following regardless of academic background or professional connections. With a bit of internet savvy an online critic can reach thousands of readers daily. I suppose only time will tell if this 'open world' is a good direction for art criticism in general. My bet is that it is as long as the art criticism is informed.

Thinking about this begs the question-- will the influential voices of the future art world be traditional publication art critics or will they be independent art bloggers who explore art criticism on their own terms? Perhaps a mix of both? Is the future now? What say you?

Link of Interest:

Massive Links! Social Media/Credit Default Swap Edition -- Art Fag City
www.artfagcity.com/2009/04/02/data-moshing/#comments

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Senior Editor

myartspace.com

www.myartspace.com

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