The art part of my facebook feed is divided over Jerry Saltzs - TopicsExpress



          

The art part of my facebook feed is divided over Jerry Saltzs recent biting critique of collector Stefan Simchowitz. Some people are defending him. Some artists say at least he is more open than gallery dealers who lock them out. Some people say being a good collector does not mean you have to be a lovable person. Both of those arguments have truth for me but they miss the problems. The past few months I got calls on my phone from Stefan. Essentially he was calling to bully me for things I wrote about him. He had my number because long ago he wrote his under a painting of mine and I returned his call. Recently, I pointed out online he had no principles as a collector. I knew this because I had run into him two different times in the New York artworld. When he called he was indignant and insisting that he is an artist... in a sense.. He called many times after and we spoke once again when I was driving through NYC.. but I didnt talk long. I didnt have the stomach for his ego. The problems are many with his tactic. He goes around principled protocols of collecting in a predatory way. All of his power in art rests on his dads money. Art for him seems like a sociopathic game for control. If you disagree with him, he will call you up and brow beat you. His taste is another problem, which is essentially status quo hip. Not hip at all. The big problem is dictating what art should be.. to artists.. to the market.. in such a predatory style. I dont think anyone should doubt this is one collector who tells artists what to make. Make a deal with the devil. Then, he will promote you.. but only to promote his own ego. Art prices should be falling, not ramped up, and that is another issue with Stefans practice. He is driving prices even higher for very shaky young artists. Stefans direction is the exact opposite path contemporary art needs to take to resolve the art market crisis so many of us are working to stop.
Posted on: Sat, 05 Apr 2014 14:55:00 +0000

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