Re: The Commodification of the avant-garde: Clemente, Basquiat, Haring

[Gary MacLennan <g.maclennan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Lou,

This was a wonderful piece.  Much to ponder on.  It is the relationship
between marginality and the core that fascinates me.  Modernity begins in
the margins Ibsen in Norway, Joyce in Dublin.
Within the dialectic of master and slave it always the slave who is the
more creative.  The master seeks out the ideas of the slave and in so doing
destroys that which gave life and novelty to the slave's work.

I am as you know fascinated by the importance of the sexuality of the
artists that made up the avant-garde. The percentage of them that were gay
is quite significant.  That for me is a great part of their marginality and
consequently their market value.

As to what will happen in the future who knows.  I am mulling over an
article by Frederic Jameson on Finance capital and culture and I will post
on it next week. It is I think an attempt to understand where we are going.

regards

Gary