Possible Changes

Possible Reforms, Solutions, or Changes for the Art World 

(An experiment)

"Recent conversations I've had with
all of you have got the gears turning in my head. I agree strongly that
those who have been calling upon Will to present a solution to the
problem's that the drawing identifies are seriously misguided. As John
pointed out, would anybody ask a cartoonist or satirist for a panacea?
Or a journalist for that matter or a critic? Is it a journalist's
responsibility to solve the problems he or she identifies?" -Ben La Rocco

This blog post is actually a publicly visible Google Document.  Many people have been asking me what the solutions and answers are to the questions I raise in my work.  If I had answers, I wouldn't be asking the questions.  I think i'm only a part of a larger discussion, one that should necessarily be larger because we are talking about the art world.  I think it would be helpful to begin to collect the different arguments, ideas, suggestions, quotes, links, and information in one place.  If you would like to contribute to the document, please send me your email address  or just sign up on my mailing list you will be able to access this document.  It will be anarchy, I'm sure, but I will moderate to a degree.  

I will periodically re-post the document to my blog but it will automatically update here: http://docs.google.com/View?id=dhrh47t8_206dfp45gd6

 

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What are the changes we want to see in the art world? I was helping out at an art auction a few weeks back and was able to get an aquarium view of the large "disparity of class" between the artists and the art buyers that you talk about, William. I could pick out the artists not only by the comp/ed tickets I handed to them at the front desk but by their age, dress, and casualness about the whole idea of the auction. The difference in dress is what started the wheels to turn. The patrons were significantly older, sometimes as old as my grandparents, but they were wearing getups that were typical for my generation. Stilletto heels, leather pants, and sequin tops adorned the females while the men stuck with monochromatic designer clothing in various cuts and cloth. In fact, the art buyers were the ones dressed as one expects an artist to dress: wild and hip, young, and...well, creative. The thought occured to me that maybe the art buyers actually were trying out their hand at being the artist/rockstar that they envision in a skewed "myth of the artist" perspective. In reality, by purchasing pieces of work, they were literally buying talent.

 

I think back now to what my first mentor told me about the obstacles an artist faces when deciding to be public about their talent. She mentioned that I would find a lot of people who would want to intrude on my creative space, both literally and figuratively, distracting me from completing my work. She told me that artistic talent is a very powerful force, and those who don't have it want to posses it. I took this as her way of warning me against falling in love too quickly and getting married before realizing my dream. But she was right.

 

I'm not saying that artists are all superhumans, rather I'm suggesting that the exploitation that can happen inside the art world is congruent to what happens when envy comes into play in everyday social situations. It seems to me like it goes beyond money, although that is the most powerful tool our society uses to influence other people.

What I'm suggesting may seem absolutely irrational. It's time to take back ownership of what is rightfully ours. Whether that means choosing to not sell work or if that simply means becoming as selective with buyers as they have been with the art, the interpretation is up for grabs. I'm suggesting that through this return to its rightful owner approach, the sacred experience of art; the very reason we continue to pick up our paintbrushes, pencils, and pens, might have a possibility of surviving.

J.M.

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A comment from Edward Winkleman's blog sort of sums up my feelings about what people would do if people who were selling their work decided to stop in protest "Maybe there are other more talented ironists, just waiting to steal his nails and build his coffin...Artists are a competitive lot, and the market pits them against each
other, the ends against the middle, the middle against itself. In the
end, the baby gets aborted." Zipthwung http://www.blogger.com/profile/02761727194113640578

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12363995&postID=8300758643044217668&isPopup=true&pli=1

William

New York Times Article

Damien Cave has written a profile about me in the New York Times today that talks about my position within the art world heirarchy.  Personally, I find the article fascinating in that it takes a relatively uncommon perspective by looking at the art world from the lower rungs.  This isn't a qualitative judgement about my position or the galleries that represent me.  It's just an observation of fact that our positions are all relative to the powerful, blue chip galleries that dominant New York, Los Angeles, and Art Basel Miami Beach.  I do want to qualify my characterization of Mr. Deitch by saying take a look at his gallery website ; I'm listening to the music and looking at ice cream cones right now.  I was trying to make an analogy about the way he markets his artists with a whimsy that masks an aggressive business practice.  The many gallery directors working for Mr. Deitch are responsible for promoting and marketing each of the artists.  Mr. Deitch puts up an enticing, cheery front for the sometimes ruthless business of dealing art.  Unfortunately, I have no idea if Mr. Deitch was presented with my quote or the context for it, and hats off to Mr. Deitch for taking the high road if he was aware of my sensational and satirical comment about one perception of his identity as a major dealer in the art world.  At least Mr. Deitch responded on record for Mr. Cave's article, which apparently many others were unwilling to do.  Perhaps Mr. Deitch also recognizes that press is press.
 

Success, then, is all relative within the art world and I recognize that I am not working outside of the system, but from within the system and with galleries who've taken considerable risks exhibiting my work.  What Cave's article does for me is validate their early support and belief in my work.  I've been slowly building an exhibition record largely on the support of art dealers beginning with Leah Stuhltrager and Cris Dam at Dam Stuhltrager  who gave me my first exhibition opportunities.  My affiliation with them led to an opportunity to show with Platform Gallery run by Stephen Lyons in Seattle that lead to two solo exhibitions and group exhibitions including The There currently on view at the gallery.  Showing with Dam Stuhltrager and Platform helped me develop a relationship with Schroeder Romero Gallery run by Lisa Schroeder and Sara Jo Romero.  The gallery is currently forming a new partnership with Sienese Shredder and will be opening up in a new space this spring with a new model for showing contemporary and historical work. Most recently, I've begun showing with Charlie James Gallery in Los Angeles, and my current show No One Here Gets Out Alive has gotten strong reviews in the LA Times (along with comments that strongly disagree), Artforum.com , as well blogs like Artwhirled.

These galleries as well the secondary fairs including Aqua and Pulse have helped bring my work to a broader audience, even though that work may be critical of the commercialization of art, the emphasis on celebrity and stardom, and the stratification of the art world.  When I say that there are a lot of contradictions, I mean it.  The gallery system and the attendant art fairs remain the primary model for exhibiting and selling work.  The thing that should be clear is that there are a lot of artists and galleries out there struggling to survive and even grow during the recession and many have not.  It's humbling to be the focus of Mr. Cave's article and it is because of the work I've shown.  Mr. Cave saw a print at Aqua Art Miami last year called "Market Crash" (see above) that caught his attention about the potential dangers of an art market bubble.   If it seems unusual for the Times to look at Art Basel Miami Beach from the outside looking in, it's because it is.  I guess I'm writing this post to explain that it's taken a long time to reach a point of recognition, Times article or no Times article.  Contrary to Mr. Deitch's sentiments, there may be a real difference between slowly building a reputation from the ground up than being vaulted into the spotlight.  It's the difference between being an art comet, blazing in and out of the art world, versus climbing slowly up the rungs of the system towards broad recognition. My recent interview with David Goodman for BOMB Magazine gets into more of my background and motivation for making art as we discuss the hierarchy of the art world. I can't please everyone, and I've really pissed some people off in the process, but it should be a challenge for every artist to claim a unique space within the art world whatever their genre despite the influence of the market.  Michael Kaiser has a great article about how money and market forces can actually slultify the arts by hindering risk-taking and growth. Read it, and then go make some art.  I'm going to continue working on the Hooverville drawing with artist Jade Townsend, which we hope to exhibit this spring.

Many thanks to everyone who has reached out in support through the social web and apologies to everyone who thinks it's a bunch of nonsense.  I'm sure you'll let me know as much, but we are all in contention in this system.  The difference between criticism and sour grapes is a short step.  I understand it intimately.  As my friend Jeff Parker put it "Congrats, bro. Nice depiction of the artist as an angry middle-aged fuck." 

Press for No One Here Gets Out Alive at Charlie James Gallery

My first solo show with Charlie James Gallery has been getting some amazing press over the last week, starting with Leah Ollman's excellent review in the LA Times.  Her analysis of the narrative structure of my work is what really stands out for me as the 'maker' of the show.  She draws clear distinctions between the narrator, the character, and my role as an artist with different agendas and different voices.

Also, Catherine Taft just published another sharp and insightful review of the show on Artforum.com.  She notes the importance of looking at the site-specific nature of the work.  The common thread, though, between both reviews and the current controversy surrounding my New Museum drawing is social satire.  Both writers refer to Honore Daumier whose cartoons piqued French society. As the New Museum controversy rages on, Jeffery Deitch recently waded in to defend Dakis, people are responding not only to the ethical issues, but how vast the divide between the wealthy elite of the art world and the rest of it.  While the Daumier reference is apt for my work and position, it is also unnerving that the economic and class divisions also parallel pre-revolutionary France. James Wagner half-jokingly said the same thing in a recent blog post.

Class divisions and wealth in the art world became more of a focus in my work as the market ballooned from 2002 until 2007.  In 2006, when I took my first trip to Miami for Basel and the satellite fairs, the atmosphere was one of congratulatory celebration; 'witness our collective brilliance and the triumph of Capitalism'.  Very few people I interviewed that weekend for a long-neglected performance were critical of the wealth and power associated with contemporary art that transformed Miami.   The economy appeared stable and few people had reason to raise any complaints.  That was before the Dow nearly halved itself and unemployment rose about 10%.

Now, when Mira Rubell is photographed licking a chocolate Jeff Koons' Rabbit during the 'feast' for Performa 09, the decadence looks ugly and the mega rich completely out of touch. While I have been addressing the discrepancy between the egalitarian promise of the art world and the elite circle of wealth that supports it in my work, I think the division is far more clear now at the end of 2009.  That clarity has brought some unwelcome attention for the wealthiest and most powerful figures in the art world, which they have little control over.   Unfortunately for the Rubells and the Joannous there are many more people on the outside than the inside of the art world.  Fortunately for me and the broader art world is that the establishment may be rigidly ordered, but it is not monolithic.  There are people on the inside who have a self-awareness of their positions of power and do not engage in vulgar displays of that privilege.  Some of them also recognize my critique and quietly tell me "You just say what we're all thinking."  Clearly not all, but hopefully enough who recognize that it's not 2006 and your wealth looks a little obscene.

James Wagner

The recent New York Times articles about the New Museum have helped
publicize the issues that James Wagner blogged about six weeks ago at
jameswagner.com. A few weeks after his initial
post  the editorial staff at the Brooklyn Rail emailed me after
they saw it. Having read it myself earlier and twittering about the
absurdity of it all I was pleased to see the Rail responding to the
post as well. When I got back from LA I met with James and Barry and
we had a great discussion about the ethical issues and the changing
direction of the museum. I interviewed Tyler Green and Paddy Johnson
so I understood their positions and concerns.
With consideration to their critical voices I made my drawing as
sensational and outrageous as I could because that's how it appeared
considering the museum's history and commitment to a non-mainstream
program. What the Times seems to have overlooked amid the reporting is
James' early, provocative, and justified criticism. I feel he really
started this critical inquiry from a passionate concern over the
overtly commercial transformation of yet another alternative
non-profit space. This trend doesn't bode well for unknown and
emerging artists without representation, especially as the gallery
system contracts.
While the interest in my particular take on the imaginary museum
series has been strong I want to make sure that it's known that this
drawing was a collaboration with the support of people who don't just
accept the status quo. Particularly James, Barry, Tyler, Paddy, Phong
Bui, and the Brooklyn Rail.  [Note: I will be meeting with the Rail editorial staff next week to discuss an ongoing series of editorial cartoons for the Rail.  Maybe I could call them the imaginary drawing series.]

William

________________________________
William Powhida
www.williampowhida.com

Powhida: The Movie Trailer

Who is 'William Powhida'?  Check out the trailer for the Hollywood film.  Unfortunately, due to major financing problems the film has been delayed indefinitely.  Username and password for access is powhida.  The trailer is currently on view at Charlie James Gallery in Los Angeles.

The November Brooklyn Rail Cover [Updated]

Update:  A friend brought it to my attention after some confusion that there are indeed three different covers for the November issue of the Brooklyn Rail.  I spoke with Phong Bui, the publisher of the Rail, who told me he wanted to promote other artists featured in the issue and do something different with the publication.  The issue was divided into thirds, and I believe my drawing about the New Museum can only be found on the cover of the 7,000 issues printed.  They are currently available in Williamsburg, Brooklyn at Spoonbill & Sugartown as well as other locations on Bedford Avenue.  It is also available elsewhere and I will see if I can get a list from Phong where those are.  The fact that there are different covers came as something of surprise to me and with such a politically sensitive issue I think it may appear that the Rail may have hedged in their commitment to the cover.  I'd prefer to think after knowing Phong for many years that he felt obligated to run the other potential covers as well, since my drawing was delivered two days before the current issue was finished and ready to be sent to press.
    The fact is the drawing was originally slated to be an editorial cartoon in the spirit of Ad Reinhardt.  For Phong to make the decision to use the image on the cover at all attests to the Rail's commitment to critical perspectives on art.
 

High-Resolution

Opening Night @ Charlie James Gallery in LA

A shot of Submerged Artist and producer Craig Platt talking with friends. Thanks to Jade Townsend for helping make the artist's leg.

Dealer Charlie James and a friend of the gallery.

My wife Kristen and an old friend from her days at Marc Jacobs outside the gallery on Chung King Rd.

Exhibition Catalog

Charlie James Gallery has published an online catalog for my new show, No One Here Gets Out Alive, available here.  If you are in LA, please check out the opening Saturday October 24th from 6 - 9 at Charlie James Gallery, 975 Chung King Rd. 

LA Show opening October 24th @ Charlie James Gallery

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WILLIAM POWHIDA  - No One Here Gets Out Alive
October 24, 2009 THRU December 5, 2009
Reception October 24 6-9p

 
Charlie James Gallery is well, completely fucked.  After a run of solid, well-reviewed shows, we regretfully announce that is over with New York artist William Powhida’s first LA solo show No One Here Gets Out Alive.  Admittedly, we agreed to give Powhida a solo show after seeing one drawing at Pulse in New York and thought his sense of humor about art world politics would make a splash in LA.  This was a bad idea.  Powhida came out here in the spring and presented some ideas about ‘destroying LA’ in his words, which we all laughed off as fodder for the voice of his first person, sycophantic, rage venting rants about perceived injustices in the art world.  Or maybe we though Powhida was referencing the fictional perspective of his alter-ego, a coddled, enfant-terrible ‘art star’ also named William Powhida. We don’t know.  We got really confused. 
             Then, we flew Powhida out to LA again to shoot a video for the show.  He showed up looking exhausted and spent several days hanging out with some questionable people. At the end of the week he claimed to have produced some sort of ‘movie’ involving the decadent lifestyle of his petulant, narcissistic, and debauched alter-ego.  The thing is, we’ve come to believe that Powhida did nothing but spend our money drinking, hanging out at strip clubs, and possibly doing drugs with the ‘actors’ and his so-called producer.  In fact, we never saw him filming at all.  
            All summer we’ve nervously waited for anything from the artist, who dodged most of our calls and failed to reply to our emails unless we put ‘money’, ‘check’, or ‘sale’ in the subject line. Powhida sent us one drawing about how screwed the art world is and basically vanished.  Since we couldn’t press another artist into filling the slot on short notice, we held out for some images, video, or correspondence from the artist’s Brooklyn studio. 
            Finally, we got a fucking leg (sorry) in the mail with vague instructions about installing it in a ‘filthy’ claw foot bathtub.  We were frightened.  Then a cardboard box showed up filled up with articles, press releases, lists, maps, charts, and letters documenting an insane narrative about ‘William Powhida’ being acquired by the Broad Art Foundation, destroying part of the collection, being impersonated by an actor, and then disappearing.  The whole thing suggests something terrible may have happened to the artist, but we don’t really know.  We’ve not heard from him since, except for a trailer about a film by Steven Soderbergh that showed up via courier a few days ago. Frankly, we don’t know what to make of any of it, and hope that you won’t take any of it seriously or judge us too harshly for fulfilling our agreement to exhibit the artist.  His other galleries arethreatening us to go through with this.  We are really sorry, in advance, for any trouble that this show may cause.  
 
Special apologies to Eli Broad, Michael Govan (and everyone at LACMA), Jeff Koons, John Baldessari, Christopher Knight, Javier Peres, Steven Soderbergh, Mickey Rourke, New Line Cinema, The Sunset Marquis, Tony’s Restaurant, TMZ, 944 Magazine, the LA Weekly, and the City of Los Angeles. 

Commenting FYI

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