White House Looking for Art

I posted in the recent past about President Obama and the families desire to decorate the White House with more contemporary art, including art from the African American community, the Hispanic community, the Asian community and women. The Art Newspaper ran an interesting story about how the Obama's interest in these emerging art market segments is raising interest and awareness among collectors. The article has some excellent commentary, and is well worth reading.

The Art News Paper states What is the significance of the attention being paid to the art of African Americans by this country’s most visible museum? Puryear is arguably one of America’s greatest sculptors and certainly doesn’t require the imprimatur of the White House. Many of his peers seem to be skillfully navigating the fraught waters of contemporary art as well.

Yet when one steps outside the vaunted and insular precincts of art, validation takes on a different tone. Beyond museum exhibitions, auction prices, critical reviews and international fairs, lies the vast territory of a larger society less swayed by esoteric notions of the valorisation of art and artists. Rather, there one finds a public whose tastes and desires are being stirred by the heady—and welcomed—promise of change. It is that indefinable sense of possibility that opens minds and fuels concrete action to challenge the status quo.

It would be presumptuous and premature to predict that the actions of one president, even one as influential as Barack Obama, would singlehandedly alter the course of American art history or the destinies of African American artists. Yet his and the First Lady’s early actions in expanding the agenda for White House art have evinced an ability to transform the bully pulpit into a poetic perch from which to suggest new strategies for broadening the conversation about art and culture in this country. The echoes of those actions are reverberating not only in the hallowed halls of the First Family’s residence, but down the decades of American creative expression.

To read the full artilce, click HERE.