09 February 2010

Ye gods

Deep within their underground lair, fresh from bathing in the blood of babies and conducting strange satanic rituals, the evil Barrs update their blog to have another go at me.

'Mainstream'!? 'Hot cakes'!? I honestly don't think they have a very good grasp of what words mean.

I suppose they think the likes of Gambia Castle and their own sorry excuse for a gallery (does somewhere that's had just one show that was only ever open for a matter of hours even count as a gallery?) aren't mainstream, and that I'm 'selling out' by showing in a dealer gallery rather than some artist-run space.

I hate to break it to them, but artist-run spaces such as Gambia Castle and Enjoy are fully integrated mainstream public institutions. It's not just that they receive public funding but that they are a recognised stepping stone for curators and artists (but especially curators) to get into the major public institutions. They're curator factories even.

As an intertemporal avant-garde artist, I wouldn't touch an artist-run space with a barge pole. In fact, back in 2007 I clearly stated where you would find a contemporary manifestation of the intertemporal avant-garde: 'It will be found mostly in sympathetic dealer galleries, online, and in short-run publications.'

That hasn't changed at all.

And I've found Ivan very sympathetic. He gets it, unlike some.

In other news, I got a letter in the mail today confirming my eligibility to graduate. Apparently I've got my graduate diploma 'with distinction', whatever that means. Once they post the scroll out to me, I might hang it where it belongs, in the toilet.

9 comments:

Artandmylife said...

I knew I should have bought some of your work before you went all commercial and mainstream ;-)

l said...

oh for God's sake. you'd think they'd never bought from a dealer, or sold their own collection back to mainstream institutions that they publicly criticise. LOL - so.... are they really selling like hot cakes? i hope so.

s. said...

HA ha ha those crazy Evil Barrs, the artcollector couple everybody loves to hate. What will they do next? The mind boggles at their insidious capers. Tune in next week for another installment of The Evil Barrs *dramatic music*

They're the court jesters at their own court, in their own sittingroom.

DickWhyte said...

Hey David- thought you might like this: http://www.ctheory.net/articles.aspx?id=616 You might have already seen it but I thought I would pass it your way.

Congrats on the show!! And as for the Barrs and the Hurrells - don't give 'em the satisfaction of riling you man. Just do what you know is right. How many collectors names do you remember?? Me, very few. But I know a lot of artist's names.

Be well.....

Mr Stephen Rowe said...

"bad boy" eh?

Congratulations on the sales. The DCB Cauchi shelf will groan with Single Malt Whisky in due course I trust!

David Cauchi said...

Ha, yesterday's quote of the day has to go to Artandmylife.

Unknown said...

Gambia Castle doesn't receive public funding, it runs on sales. It is half artist-run and half dealer.

David Cauchi said...

Now that you mention it, I think I knew that. I recall wondering whether it made things awkward, being neither fish nor fowl.

However, I don't see that it affects my argument.

Jeremiah Boniface said...

Agreed. Gambia is part of the same sort of (massy-ist) factory that pumps "anti-decor" art (ok, there's some really good shit amongst it). And congrats, great you're selling some shit that appeals to the punters that still buy works on paper (a valid art form). Aroha nui

visitors since 29 March 2004.