Art Critic, Conflict
First on my list of "do nots" for 2008 is submitting to an interview with Tyler Green. Not that he's a bad guy. I just worry that somewhere along the line he'll hit me with a question like this, asked of Village Voice art critic Christian Viveros-Faune.
MAN: You're a managing director of a commercial art fair, Volta, and an organizer of another commercial art fair, Chicago's Next fair. At the same time you're a writer, a journalist, you're the art critic for the Village Voice. Why isn't that the most basic kind of conflict of interest?
More cringe-worthy is Viveros-Faune's answer. I'm not going to post it all, but you can go here to read.
I will pick out a couple of arguments made by Viveros-Faune.
1. "I think essentially, because, I believe you can wear a lot of hats in the art world, and one needs to because, among other things, critics can't survive on the money that they make from writing. Very few critics can."
Fair enough. Writing criticism, or writing anything, is not the most direct route to a house in the Hamptons. But it is a choice. And when you make that choice, it should be with the understanding that you're writing because you want people to believe your words. How can we believe when such an obvious conflict exists?
If Viveros-Faune needs a little extra cash, he should think of opportunities that don't conflict with his high profile job. Run a writing workshop. Lobby for oil companies. Wait tables. But don't take work that conflicts with your writing job, which might not pay all the bills but is important, coveted and now compromised.
2. "...Examine, for second, the practice of writing catalog essays. You know and I know that there is no such thing as a negative catalog essay and the reason for that is obvious: one way critics make money is by writing promotional copy for galleries and, hopefully, artists they like or love."
There's not much to say about that. The words speak for themselves.
If Viveros-Faune had a financial interest in a commercial gallery I would be worried about a conflict of interest. But he doesn't and I don't think that organizing or managing an art fair compromises his position as a critic. I am much more worried about undisclosed friendships or other relationships (good or bad) that critics have with artists and dealers; something that happens much more frequently than anyone in the art world cares to admit.
Get a life. If you don't have smart people working at important posts, you get drivel from idiots like Tyler Green, who can stay as conlict-free as the Virgin Mary and still not be worth reading.
I'm not going to get into defending Viveros-Faune, but I will point out that his type of "conflict of interest" is, indeed quite common in the visual arts world (and maybe in all the arts). I won't name names, but while I was doing more visual arts criticism a few years back, I learned of several local critics who owned pieces from the artists they were promoting in their reviews - a clearer conflict of interest than that described here. Other little favors - discounts on other works, dinners, etc. - from gallery owners and museum directors were far from unheard-of; once or twice I had to actively resist such blandishments myself.
All these issues are very much top of mind for me these days as I blog about theatre and the arts and am simultaneously directing a local stage production. Perceived conflicts of interest were one reason I refused the stipend offered for the work (the group's financial health was the other reason!). I think it's pretty clear that such a line has to be drawn for critics who also want to be artists - although even with financial gain out of the question, the resulting situation is a snake pit of suspicion and jealousy, as I've learned the hard way in recent days. I may blog about this further as I think through a more coherent position over the next few days or weeks. Such a position has to become part of the dialogue, however, as my situation is only going to become more common, for precisely the reason Viveros-Faune mentions: if it's difficult to make a living as a critic, it's all but impossible as a blogger - and bloggers are almost inevitably, therefore, involved in producing the art they're writing about.
Are you Serious? This is hardly a conflict of interest- One- its the art world where there is no money except to a select few and in this case certainly not this guy; and two- look at the articles this guy wrote. I went back and checked-. An interview with another art critic, a review of the New Museums new facility, and a review of a museum retrospective. He's not exactly pushing new talent into the forefront. Besides- if you posted the whole interview you’d see that his editor vets all his submissions to ensure that there is no commercial conflict. Way to go Edgers- Obviously another great victory for inconsequential journalism. I guess Christian wont be getting that sweet $800 an article any more. Stay in Boston where you can remain irrelevant in the Boston irrelevant art scene.
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