Ad Reinhardt cartoon (all images © 2013 Estate of Ad Reinhardt / Artists Rights Society [ARS], New York; courtesy David Zwirner, New York / London)

The curse is in the urge to purify, to divide and sharpen the borders between styles and approaches to art.

If you want to be a relevant artist (if at all), cure is only in SAMPLING and MIXING all styles and disciplines, to find your very own way as an artist equivalent to your ideas, feelings, knowledge, visions, nightmares and sweet dreams, to express yourself as an individual. 

The current discourse about art -which is mostly directed by how to sell it- wants to divide in disciplines and styles because it´s easier to sell, and easier to communicate and easier to perceive by a wider audience.

Ad Reinhardt was right, but on top nowadays there is neither cure in seeking refuge in strict formalism, abstract art, conceptual art, licking design or seeking relevance by satisfying current “discourses” (which would guarantee you even some money from the state, but is that a sustainable model really ?)

Angela Fette, August 22