The Struggle for Authenticity in Art I want to speak today about authenticity . And about what we quietly give up to be accepted. We’re told that contemporary political art values autonomy . That artists are free. That inquiry sits at the centre of practice. But autonomy, in reality, is often something we *perform*— not something we’re allowed to exercise. Freedom is celebrated rhetorically, while legitimacy is granted only when work conforms to approved languages , approved theories , approved causes . Autonomy isn’t denied outright. It’s curated. This system doesn’t fail artists by accident. It functions mechanically. It rewards work that aligns with predetermined frameworks and filters out work that doesn’t speak the sanctioned dialect. Many voices are excluded not because they lack skill or meaning, but because they refuse to translate their experience into institutionally legible language. I’m not saying all excluded work is good. I am saying much of it is never heard. And ...
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Consider THIS Gatekeeper
Gatekeepers in the art world determine what art is exhibited and made available to the public.
Gatekeepers include curators, gallerists, collectors, critics, and other art industry professionals.
Museums, galleries, and cultural institutions are often considered the primary Gatekeepers.
Curators play an influential role in selecting and organizing exhibitions.
As an independent artist, it is essential to recognize and consider the influence of these Gatekeepers.
Botticelli Gatekeepers
The Medici family played a significant role in shaping the art and culture of the Renaissance period and were critical patrons of the Arts in Florence.
Botticelli and other Renaissance artists navigated the values and expectations of their patrons to maintain financial support and avoid falling out of favour.
Botticelli's famous paintings, The Birth of Venus and Primavera, were sponsored by the Medici family and demonstrate their classical influence.
The church also significantly influenced Renaissance art and commissioned many works for religious buildings.
Botticelli's personal experience of false accusations and imprisonment inspired his painting, The Calumny of Apelles, which warns against false and malicious allegations and reminds us of the importance of safeguarding fairness and creativity.
Powerful and Influential Gatekeepers
In ancient Greece and Rome, wealthy individuals and institutions commissioned large-scale artworks for public and religious spaces, reflecting the ruling class's tastes, values, and interests.
Colonizing states utilized art for propaganda, promoting their culture and customs as superior to the local ones.
Classical art focuses on technical excellence, representations of gods and goddesses, historical and mythological narratives, the depiction of military achievements, and attention to detail and realism.
Patrons and institutions with considerable resources and power can influence cultural narratives and advance their interests, values, and agendas through commissioning or purchasing works of art.
The decisions of gatekeepers, such as wealthy patrons and powerful institutions, significantly impact artwork creation. Is it a formalized process for independent artists to seek commissions in patronage?
How the Powerful Influence Artists
Wealthy and powerful business and political leaders have influenced the art world by commissioning classical works of art that reflected their ideals of wealth, good taste, and cultural heritage.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, wealthy patrons favoured classical themes and techniques demonstrating their moral purpose, wealth, power, and cultural sophistication through their art acquisitions.
In the 18th to 19th century, wealthy patrons favoured Rococo and neoclassical styles, which reflected their belief in the classical tradition and conveyed a message of stability, order, and permanence.
The rise of industrialization and globalization in the 19th century allowed artists to become more independent, sell their works directly to private collectors and institutions, and explore new styles and techniques.
In the 20th century, a new class of merchants, industrialists, and bankers emerged who acquired innovative art to reflect their creativity, innovation, and impact on society, shaping the artistic direction and promoting artistic freedom and creativity through their support of innovative artists.
This artwork is protected by U.S. and International copyright laws. Distribution and/or modification of the artwork without written permission of the sponsor is prohibited.
The Situation - Red Alert JB , a middle-aged mail spaceship pilot . Starship piloting JB is held not by ropes, but by the cryo-unit's nanoweave swaddle —a tight, absolute embrace mimicking paranoiac wrappings. This material presses against him, preventing his shivering flesh from flying apart under the centrifugal force of his panic. He feels a cold burn and constant helplessness sinking in. His anxiety is a crimson klaxon , a "relentless tempest" of warring thoughts. He is mentally back in the cockpit, but the instruments scream in an alien language; every light and warning signifies impending failure. His pure instinct screams ABORT , yet there is no escape route. Confrontation Rising JB is shown the war of impulses tearing him apart—the "lunge and the retreat". His existence is reduced to the strained gasp: "I live for fucks sake, I don't know.” Full Assault a Violet Firestorm JB responds with explosive, automatic violence, his lungs burning from ...
Puppet Master The narrow, high-walled passage swallowed the sound of my boot scraping a broken cobblestone, the echo sharp in the dry air. Above, a sliver of unforgiving sunlight cut down, carving deep shadows where the damp, mossy scent of the gully was now replaced by the smell of dust and ancient stone. I paused, looking not just at my gloved hand—the leather scuffed from my descent, but at what was attached to it. Thin, nearly invisible lines, like high-tensile wires , stretched from the articulated cuff on my wrist and disappeared into the air above the path. I tracked them with my eyes until they converged on a small, stone figure standing motionless in the centre of the walkway. It was a crude marionette , barely a foot tall, carved from the same pale, cracked stone as the surrounding walls. Dressed in a simple tunic, its blank, oval face held a radiating sense of expectant waiting. Its arms were held out, palms up. I held the strings. Yet, the feeling was not one of cont...
The hand that holds the glamour Between the flick of a lighter and the curl of smoke lies a story told in two parts: the hand that holds the glamor, Between the flick of a lighter and the curl of smoke lies a story told in two parts: the hand that holds the glamor, and the eye that chooses to believe it. The art of the obscure and meaningless In the realm of modernist art , exemplified by Eddie's deliberate embrace of abstraction and mystery , artists have increasingly surrendered their authoritative power of intent to a veil of meaningless vagueness, compelling viewers to co-create meaning from fragmented suggestions rather than receiving a clear, directive vision. Her scalpel-wielded dissections—such as her perforated self-portraits or obscured war images—eschew explicit communication in favour of elusive hints, as she professed a desire to remain "mysterious" and avoid revelation, thereby shifting the burden of interpretation onto the audience in a pseudo-spiritual a...
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