Art as Authority: OH WHERE, OH WHERE HAVE THE GALLERIES GONE (PORTRAIT OF A STRUGGLING ARTIST IN SAN DIEGO)

by Maura Vazakas

Question#1: Where is the most obvious place for a family to move after enduring numerous years of depressing cold and rainy weather?
Answer: Sunny, Southern California.

Question#2: If you had to choose between smoggy, traffic congested LA or San Diego's cleaner, (if I didn't attach the "er", I'd be lying) get anywhere in roughly 15 minutes or less (well, most of the time) living, which city would you pick?
Answer: Almost 20 years ago, my answer was San Diego. And yes, I must admit, it was great raising a family here.

BUT,... what about ME, a struggling artist trying to establish myself in the art world? FAT CHANCE HERE, I say! I have seen art galleries come and go here like popsicles in the desert heat. Where are they when you REALLY need them? I can say from experience, you get your hopes up, envision your art on the cover of a future issue of Art In America when a fresh, new gallery takes you under their wings. "I have high hopes for you," they say. You get favorable reviews by the art critic. You have show after show. Even sell some art! "Wow", you say. Life is starting to look good. Wait a minute!.... I can feel the heat. The gallery is getting a FEVER. Oh, No! It DIED!! along with some unreturned even damaged paintings, owed $$$, and the high hopes of the many artists it stabled.

The above is a sad story for aspiring artists. But it is all too true here in San Diego. Galleries that showcased local emerging artists have closed, leaving just a very small handful of "closed door policy" (you know what I mean!) galleries left showing works by ONLY established artists.

What is going on here?? Can we bring back the galleries??? What does it take?? Who is collecting contemporary art here???? Are there ENOUGH sophisticated, cultured, and art-plugged people living in San Diego??? Do people here ONLY care about the Padres, retirement homes, or beach blanket bingo????? Will there be any feedback/comments on my story?????, I wonder.

In summary, 20 years later, my answer to Question#2: Neither.

And advice to young emergers.. Get your work out, out, out of San Diego, into cities that are "art friendlier". It's not difficult to do, if you have your he[art] in it.

Comments

Sentences on Contemporary Art SD

I. Note the reference to "the" art critic -- a bad sign.

II. Joisey on the Pacific: so close to LA, so far from art.

III. San Diego is a world center for culture... physical culture. Coronado is a famed sailing community; the diving fraternity extensive (viz the annual Underwater Film Festival); the surfing subculture supports some of the world's most talented and revered sculptors of polyurethane foam (pop quiz: what does almost-mayor Donna Frye have in common with Hilary Clinton and George W. Bush?). In sum, the city's life is outside, while art is traditionally an inside sport.

IV. In my mind's eye I see a cover of Artforum bearing an image of Ross Perot pointing to a chart. The caption in bold block letters: That Giant Sucking Sound. The article: an essay on the crucial interdependence of jet travel and the contemporary art market. Case in point: Art Basel Miami. Thus the end to a long tradition of regional art, in San Diego and elsewhere.

V. Yet regional art still persists. Case in point: Portland. But only as a special case: art is a big part of the regional culture there, whereas in San Diego see III above.

VI. In the early 1980's San Diego had a functioning arts district downtown, with galleries, studios, and even an authentic (i.e. Venice-style) art walk. Real estate inflation and redevelopment killed it all. San Diego also had internationally-recognized art activity in the form of Border Art. That was then, this is now; the new internationally-recognized art activity is in Tijuana.

VII. American society has grown markedly more conservative in the age of St. Reagan (in whose posthumous glory we all still bask, voluntarily or not). Contemporary art is now viewed as suspect activity by a significant chunk of the populace, including those with the discretionary income to act as potential collectors (or should that be "consumers"?).

Posted by: Richard Gleaves | mai 5, 2006 01:02 PM

everyone wants a pea for their flour cake when the pebble in their shoe hurts to walk ... if you have to rely on the outside to confirm your inside ... well ... hey pal, where's that mirror you fell through?
let's all
give
up
cash
in
buy out.