An enlightening talk given by art critic and curator Julian Spalding on his most recent book Art Exposed.
At a time when the art world seems to have been taken over by money-men more interested in treating art as a commodity than as a wellspring of the creative spirit, Spadling provides a valuable counter vision on how we should approach, value, and discuss art.
Spalding has always had a special place in Rebecca Hossack's heart as he was the first, and for many years the only, director of a public art gallery to treat indigenous art as equal to Western art. In 1992, as the inaugural director of the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow, he hung works by Australian Aboriginal and Papua New Guinean artists, not as ethnographic curiosities, but in a compelling dialogue alongside works by contemporary British and American artists.
Art Exposed features a collection of essays on critically under-acclaimed artists (such as Mandy McCartin and Jean Tinguely) and, perhaps, over-acclaimed figures (such as Marcel Duchamp). The book also features memoirs of events and encounters with important figures (including Queen Elizabeth II and Margaret Thatcher) who have sparked questions on what constitutes great art, and on the sometimes vain and self-serving direction much of the art world is heading in.
Illuminating, intelligent, and excitingly provocative, Spalding’s talk offered a privileged insight into the art world as experienced by him, and challenged how we think about and consume art in our rapidly changing contemporary world.