How can we decide who the best artists in the world are?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by tealasilverre on April 16, 2009 at 10:53am

I have long had the opinion that the people 'chosen' are the artists who curry favors in the rich and influential peoples. I however do not agree with that practice. I feel the merit of a true artist is by the number of people they effect, whether good or bad. An artist who can make you cry, laugh, be wistful,to long for, or even hate, distrust, or to be revolted is an artist of worth. True I may not like all that the artist puts out, but if his/her numbers are worthy of inclusion; then they should be included. An artist from India, Japan, China, Nepal, Brazil, Australia or wherever should be considered, especially if their art is admired or bought by many all over the world. I agree with your protest. I feel it is about time these few realize they can not tell everyone what is good or bad because we have likes and dislikes too.

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Permalink Reply by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 16, 2009 at 12:36pm

Thanks for your reply & support. Saatchi gallery should have consulted all the art related people in the world before preparing the list. Why should it prepare the list on its own & ask us to vote? This is very undemocratic. It is not giving the chance to people in some parts of the world to decide & also to participate in the poll.
tealasilverre said:

I have long had the opinion that the people 'chosen' are the artists who curry favors in the rich and influential peoples. I however do not agree with that practice. I feel the merit of a true artist is by the number of people they effect, whether good or bad. An artist who can make you cry, laugh, be wistful,to long for, or even hate, distrust, or to be revolted is an artist of worth. True I may not like all that the artist puts out, but if his/her numbers are worthy of inclusion; then they should be included. An artist from India, Japan, China, Nepal, Brazil, Australia or wherever should be considered, especially if their art is admired or bought by many all over the world. I agree with your protest. I feel it is about time these few realize they can not tell everyone what is good or bad because we have likes and dislikes too.

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Permalink Reply by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 16, 2009 at 12:37pm

Thank you very much for your support.

Aleksandar Sasha Pavicevic said:

Life is Art,art is Life.Who is the best?...That's,Ego.I agree with your protest.
Krishna

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Permalink Reply by solodad maria on April 16, 2009 at 11:45pm

I guess its Saatchi's regime and nothing personal , their own "World of Art" so to speak, personally I love indigenous art with spirit and light , non Western and free spirited, I believe in live and let live, Saatchi's would not interest me ! There are so many wonderful independent artists out there who are naturally gifted and are true artists in this world of change............! I seek out the purity and the wisdom, ..........Blessings to you ........X

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Permalink Reply by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 17, 2009 at 8:36am

Thanks for your reply, Solodad Maria. Yes, you are right. It is Saatchi's world. Very small indeed!

solodad maria said:

I guess its Saatchi's regime and nothing personal , their own "World of Art" so to speak, personally I love indigenous art with spirit and light , non Western and free spirited, I believe in live and let live, Saatchi's would not interest me ! There are so many wonderful independent artists out there who are naturally gifted and are true artists in this world of change............! I seek out the purity and the wisdom, ..........Blessings to you ........X

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Permalink Reply by Kumud Kumari Singh on April 17, 2009 at 11:14am

I completely agree with you Krishna. If the poll is about deciding the best artist in the "WORLD", then it is bound to include artists from across the globe and not just one part of the earth.

Such biased approach is not correct at all.

I wonder what was the outcome.

Thanks for sharing it with us.

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Permalink Reply by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 18, 2009 at 11:43am

The process is still going on & many people protested. Let us see what they will do in the end.
Thanks for your support, Kumud.

Kumud Kumari Singh said:

I completely agree with you Krishna. If the poll is about deciding the best artist in the "WORLD", then it is bound to include artists from across the globe and not just one part of the earth.

Such biased approach is not correct at all.

I wonder what was the outcome.

Thanks for sharing it with us.

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Permalink Reply by Frank Shifreen on April 21, 2009 at 2:36pm

I completely agree with you Krishna. I think There is a European bias in art. It is as if artists in the rest of the world do not exist. In my early exhibitions as curator, the Monumental Shows, I included artists from Africa and India who were not making western art. I wrote a research paper during my Columbia program examining how many societies , for instance Phillipines and India, went through a period of colonial art, that mimicked the art of the European colonizer. My interest and hope is for all cultures to find metaphors and their own vernacular in art. My professor Dr. Sullivan, who is from Australia, showed me work from catalogs of the Pan Asian Trienniel exhibitions, and I was very impressed with what I saw.
That exhibition series looks for works in traditional materials and ideas , and without mimicking the western canon. I also want to point out that in my recent curated shows, Souped-up Pontiac and Art Against War, I included artists who are from many cultural backgrounds.
I have not had the success in this art world and market for my own work. I think my work is good but many of my exhibitions have been non-profit, co-operative, and other spaces, certainly out of the mainstream. I would not participate in such a survey,- the best artists of the world. I think it is shameful in that the names are those who have been canonized in the western media and it is skewed to those artists who have had notoriety and commercial success. That is not the criteria I would use

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Permalink Reply by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 24, 2009 at 9:28am

Thanks for the reply, Frank. I just refused to vote I didn't quit. Yes, the people who are conducting these polls don't know much about art from other parts of the world. The world they live in is very small. They chose only a few people with limited knowledge. This is really ridiculous. That was what I told them.
frank sadera said:

Well I'm not sure I would have quit.Why not just write in who you think should be included.
Then just let them throw you out if they don't agree.
One of the things I think makes it difficult to pick the best,is a lack of understanding about
the many cultures that create beautiful or challenging art.My first trip to the Freer Gallery
in D.C. was somewhat overwhelming since I had little exposure to Eastern Art.It took many visits
before I realized just how important these works were.
I think that art has to have some meaning to my life and culture.I would not be able to
develope art that I have not lived with.
So if I'm picking the best I would have to narrowly choose those whose work I have studied
And I'm not sure if I'm making any sense at all~

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Permalink Reply by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 24, 2009 at 9:30am

Exactly! That is what I too feel, Frank.

Frank Shifreen said:

I completely agree with you Krishna. I think There is a European bias in art. It is as if artists in the rest of the world do not exist. In my early exhibitions as curator, the Monumental Shows, I included artists from Africa and India who were not making western art. I wrote a research paper during my Columbia program examining how many societies , for instance Phillipines and India, went through a period of colonial art, that mimicked the art of the European colonizer. My interest and hope is for all cultures to find metaphors and their own vernacular in art. My professor Dr. Sullivan, who is from Australia, showed me work from catalogs of the Pan Asian Trienniel exhibitions, and I was very impressed with what I saw.
That exhibition series looks for works in traditional materials and ideas , and without mimicking the western canon. I also want to point out that in my recent curated shows, Souped-up Pontiac and Art Against War, I included artists who are from many cultural backgrounds.
I have not had the success in this art world and market for my own work. I think my work is good but many of my exhibitions have been non-profit, co-operative, and other spaces, certainly out of the mainstream. I would not participate in such a survey,- the best artists of the world. I think it is shameful in that the names are those who have been canonized in the western media and it is skewed to those artists who have had notoriety and commercial success. That is not the criteria I would use

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