Advance: next steps for an art movement

In my recent London speech I outlined what is needed for dissenting artists.

The Belgian Surrealist group

Here are six routes to assist the arts. It excludes publishing more and supporting print outlets, which should be givens.

1)    Selling outlets

We need websites, agents and gallerists willing to take on, promote and sell art by counter-elite artists. This does not have to be art of an overtly political nature. Sellers can simply promote art they like by artists they respect and sell it as it is – good art that people will want to possess and cherish. At the moment, there are no art dealers I consider “sound” from our point of view. Not one. [I am thinking here of art dealers who would not fold under pressure to disassociate themselves from artists should a cancellation mob arise.] Think of the opportunity for the first one among us to take up that opportunity the way others have done in publishing and news networks.  

2)    Patronage

Once there are buyers of counter-elite art, vendors will appear when they are aware that there is a market. That means people must buy art in the first place. That art may not be large or expensive – you can buy a print for as little as £40 – but if everyone we know commits to spending £100 per year on original art then the market would be stimulated. If that market becomes vigorous then these pictures (bought out of love or loyalty) will appreciate in value. All at once we have the appearance of the secondary market, where art is traded between auctioneers, retailers and collectors. Money poisons art but art does not get made (at a professional level) without money. It is an unreasonable to think artists should work for nothing without the prospect of even covering the costs of time and materials, when you yourself would not work that way. Even if it is just buying a print for £40 or commissioning an artist to paint a view of your garden for £150, you can do your part. 

Ultimately, the fate of great private collections may be in the public realm. Museums of really worthwhile art could be established to counteract the increasingly worthless and diluted collection at the Tate gallery. We talk of parallel economies of commerce; we should also think about parallel collections of art (owned privately or in tightly-run trusts) that gather the best art of today, becoming cultural treasuries.  

3)    Sponsorship and advertising

As the arts of the counter-elite gain traction, so they will become suitable for commercial backing. If the circulation of periodicals reaches healthy levels, they should attract advertisers. Exhibitions could appeal to counter-cultural sponsors. Imagine an open exhibition that has cash prizes sponsored by companies and individuals ideologically aligned with organisers and participants. Think of how such prizes could incentivise young artists to hone their craft and create more ambitious art. It would make annual exhibitions social fixtures in our calendars, as well as in the art world. We could encourage and reward genuine merit and give heart to artists now currently resigned to obscurity.  

4)    Forums for gathering and discussion

We have a problem in that we are dispersed. No two of the contributing artists to our London exhibition lived in the same city and half of us do not even live in the same country. We miss having social hubs fixed in place – the salons, bars, cafés and clubs that played parts in past artistic movements. There is no virtual equivalent for actually meeting but having a good website with a chat facility would be valuable. This is something that we artists should sort out between ourselves and I mention it as an aside.

An enterprising owner or manager of a venue could encourage art students to gather by offering discounts or an opportunity to exhibit work on the walls. Providing spaces for students to gather and form bonds (perhaps lifelong ones) will allow young artists to escape the oppressive atmosphere of the university art departments. But perhaps the conventional path to becoming an artist through university is coming to an end.

5)    Education and training

Small art schools should be set up to cater for students wishing to learn crafts that they cannot be taught by current university departments. These may be in the old art-school format or they may be apprenticeships with established artists. These could be made more financially viable by the organisers running auxiliary courses of instructions or weekly drop-in sessions of life drawing. These activities are profitable, they build relationships between an organisation and its local community and they support people to make art of a traditional character. If we have social spaces, art schools, community projects (on our own terms), we have the grounding for open exhibitions, prizes and student scholarships. This pragmatic approach is localism in action. Independence from central funding authorities, local government control and national government influence is essential to establishing resilient networks that reflect our aims. These schools could invite artists to give talks or lead courses – allowing artists the opportunities that are denied to them by university art departments.

I should add a word of caution here. Some of you are well versed in legal matters and I am sure that you can see an avenue for hostile actors to submit entrance applications to such organisations in order to subvert and control them. All it takes is for an arts organisation to refuse to allow an activist to join, for a process of lawfare to be initiated. Such action allows a legal team to cripple an organisation with monetary compensation or by forcibly opening it to all-comers. Such organisations would have to be legally and financially compliant whilst also retaining privacy and upholding non-negotiable in-group values. Consult your local legal adviser on this.

6)    Foundations

Finally, there is space for charitable foundations to be established which will stage exhibitions and publish books. They could also award prizes and stipends directly to artists; they could fund student scholarships at trusted art schools. An important role would be to reward young artists, especially students, offering an alternative to the unavailable opportunities in the mainstream. They could also act a means for non-progressive collectors to find artists they wish to patronise. In some countries, such charitable giving is tax deductible, incentivising rich individuals or companies to make their giving tax efficient.

With these basics in place, there is no reason for an art movement not to thrive.