One of the most thought provoking, if not the most compelling, was mentioned
in a recent New Yorker review of the Mary Cassatt exhibition.  That is the
ostensible de-romanticism of art, its restoration to something that has a
social function, that people can use and interact with.  The increasing
irrelevance and absurdity of the gallery/art market as it has existed for
the past several decades in NYC; the emergence in the past three decades of
art exhibitions as public events with broad appeal; the artistic aspirations
of popular culture, whether movies, music, or graphic design; the use of art
and artists to sell everything from real estate to cars, all suggest to me
that the democratization of art in the developed countries has progressed
dramatically.

Not sure if this is a victory -- or an unalloyed victory -- but museum
people certainly have contributed to this change.

Eric Siegel
Director, Planning &
Program Development
The New York Hall of Science
http://www.nyhallsci.org



Eric Siegel
Director, Planning &
Program Development
The New York Hall of Science
http://www.nyhallsci.org


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