Picture: Look for the elephant in the room.
I recently went to an art exhibition in Zurich by young international artists. The sponsor of the event, using it as a client platform, was the Swiss Private Bank UBS. While I sat watching the people passing by, only quickly glancing at the paintings and photographs, I got angrier and angrier. At first I did not know why, then I hit me right in the face: the art on display was of questionable quality! It was not imaginative, it was not drawing you in, it was not skilfully done, it was bland, unskilled and plain boring. The visitors did probably think the same as they quickly browsed through the exhibition and determinedly ventured towards the chilled champagne corner. Most of the visitors could not have cared less and only a few artsy looking people engaged in dialogue as the woman in charge of the event was busily greeting all sorts of guests. I was not always sure if there is such a thing as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ art (read my discussion of the Fischli & Weiss exhibition) but now I am very sure. Bad art is like the elephant in the room that everyone sees but everyone ignores. Bad art is among us but no one dares to say so. So let me do it: the young artists on display were bad. Really bad!
PS: If you want to see truly outstanding art, visit the Angkor Exhibition at the Museum Rietberg in Zurich. The Khmer art on display is over 600 years old and still absolutely outstanding. No bad art there!
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