All of a Sudden – Things that Matter in Contemporary Art

Since the mid-nineties, contemporary art has been booming like never before. There is more of everything – more artists, more collectors, more galleries, more art fairs, more museums, more biennials, more interest, more industry, more pop, more hype. Some art professionals feel prompted by all this to reach for the revolvers of cultural pessimism: Mass Stupidity Is Killing Great Art! Others—often the same people a short while later—defect with all the greater abandon to the alleged enemy. The entrenched battle between defenders of art's autonomy and champions of its merging with entertainment culture continues. There is more of everything, with one exception: criteria. Criteria with which the art of the moment can be understood, judged, praised and, if need be, damned—without getting bogged down in this eternal trench warfare.