big hotel

The bridges between representational art and the public are down, blown up by advancing abstractionist forces back in the nineteen fifties, and traffic has been rerouted through the gift shop. Spot and spin paintings bring in millions, self-serving non-profits have co-opted art as a charity, and comfortable homes full of books and smart furnishings have decorator prints on the walls. Still independent artists, ragged partisans of a populist art insurrection, in temporary studios and in and out of other employment, are making art about what we all see, think about, relate to and understand. Although many feel themselves cutoff and surrounded, isolated and alone, relief is on the way. As if dropped from the sky a big hotel that takes art seriously suddenly appears bringing rain to a previously parched landscape. As a greater array of art gains exposure, a more aware public will begin to make their own choices, and the playing field will level up for everyone.