Art Class
Art has always been a form of prostitution, which is why it strikes some people as unseemly that parents of so-called prodigies (one or two emerge every year or so, it seems) are so eager to pimp them out.
The latest pint-size Picassa is Aelita Andre, whose works are showing in a pay-to-exhibit gallery in New York. She's no Marla Olmstead...
... but with a little help from the 'rents, someday she could be.
Arguments about wee-size super-talents (they really are more or less moot in the plastic arts) aside, what if anything is interesting about the art world's latest wunderkind is what her "rise to fame" says about our supposedly struggling economy.
There was a piece in yesterday's Times about her solo show that summed it all up in the opening half-sentence:
The art market has made a remarkable recovery from the depths of the financial crisis.What a willingness to spend twenty-five grand — which is about the median net personal income in America today — on a child's sputum tells us is that while austerity is being prescribed for the rabble, there's plenty of money to burn out there. If ever there was an argument to raise taxes on the top 2%, Aelita Andre is it.
Of course, Aelita is not to blame. She's just a victim of her parepimps— er, I mean, parents, and of a class war— er, economic crisis — that's claiming more and more victims every day.
Artists — adult artists — among them.
But again, the starving artist is nothing new. Give 'em a juice box and let 'em eat cake!
I think some of the blame for this sort of thing can be traced to the time when art was "discovered" by speculators, driving up prices to ridiculous levels and creating a market for the latest sensation or "unknown Master."
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The parents of these "artists" coach their kids to fill every space on the canvas with paint. That is the "eye catcher". Trust me on this one I have a lot of paintings by my kids. If I overlap every single one they ever drew and covered an entire canvas, It would be the same thing as coaching them to do it all at once. It would be more interesting if they figured it out themselves. After all, some kids had to live before the late 20th Century. I hear they had to buy their own paint or cut off their ear just to get noticed. Starving Artists vs. Underage Overfed Coached Artists. I'm goin with starving artists on this one. Mainly because there is probably a twinkie residue on every modern canvas, or at least some Gogurt(by Yoplait!)
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I found her today. She IS a genius. I have never understand the paint art, I dont like it mostly, some paintings are just... stupid, ugly... I dont see any point of painting circles and say THAT MEANS BIG THING. It doesnt mean anything to me. But she - she made my day beautiful. She knows, what shes doing, even if shes just playing with colors. Some her paintings are breath-taking. I dont thing your child could do that. I couldnt in her age and I couldnt today. And, btw, try to be four in Australia and PAINT VOLGA. Thats patriotism.
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