Gatekeeping & the Subjectivity of Art in the Art World

Becoming a successful artist requires good art—always (!). No matter how good your networking skills are or which connections you have, if art cannot stand its ground in a high-end environment, it will not succeed. It is the most critical and complex part to get right. However, who decides what good art is and why? Therefore, this article will tackle one of the art world’s hot topics, especially from the perspective of the artist trying to make a living with their art: the controversial truth about gatekeeping & subjectivity.

From “Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder” to “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” the subjective nature of art results in many heated discussions, as is so often illustrated online, for instance, in our YouTube comment section. The subjective experience of art where complete objectivity is impossible is, of course, at the root of all this. Yet, among art professionals, there is a certain consensus of what good art is within the contemporary art world. Art experts, people who have consumed thousands of artworks and are, therefore, working in the high realms of the art world professionally, do seem to be able to value art more consistently and have a similar taste or way of looking.

Art Experts of Gatekeepers?

Very often, these art experts are referred to as gatekeepers which has a very negative connotation in public opinion. Some people believe these gatekeepers—ranging from the big galleries and famous curators—determine what good art is just to make a lot of money, and aim to fool the people into spending a lot of money on bad art. However, good art is not always decided from the top.

Artists who have climbed the ladder of success all start at the bottom, and so did the appreciation for them. Some directors of smaller galleries see something in them, and the bulk of private collectors see the very same thing. These are normal people who are not in it for the money but for the love of art. The people respond positively to great art, and the establishment responds to the people.

Never underestimate the power of the people, who are the first and most important so-called gatekeepers of what good art is—making it something very democratic instead of elitarian. Even more, although everyone has the right to have an opinion, one can never argue their opinion is an objective truth. Very often, people overvalue their own—current—opinion in art, no matter their experience, educational background, knowledge, or general frame of reference.

However, the taste of a seasoned art critic, collector, or gallery director is more valuable and has more truth to it than the eye of a random beholder. The opinion of someone who started painting six months ago as a new hobby is less valuable and nuanced than the opinion of, for instance, Hans Ulrich Obrist or David Zwirner. This is a reality—no matter how often it is contested—that has proven itself repeatedly, and I fully support it. This statement might step badly on many people’s toes, as when it comes to art, they firmly refuse any form of expertise or authority. In other subjective industries, this is a lot less problematic. In music, fashion, interior design, graphic design, architecture, film, theater, literature, et cetera et cetera, public opinion does accept and values the opinion of experts. In contemporary art, however…

Training Your Eye & Opinion

Before arguing your current opinion about artwork is a fact and that the art experts are wrong, please note that your current opinion might change as your taste continues to develop over time. By consuming more art and delving deeper into its history and complexity, it only makes sense that you will start to look differently at art, resulting in a different opinion, experience, and appreciation. Your taste continues to develop and evolve. It is a process that we see over and over again, among artists, collectors, art enthusiasts, and more.

It is uncanny how most people tend to develop a liking for established artists, even if they once discarded them as pretentious or overhyped. I experienced it myself, being cynical toward the work of artists who are today my favorites. As soon as you start to go more in-depth, you appreciate and focus more on the subtleties, value, and relevance of the artwork instead of focusing on the visual. We go beyond the surface. Not because we are told to, but because we are reaching a deeper understanding of what art can be and mean.

As a result, you need to train your eye and frame of reference for a better ‘art opinion’ or to achieve a deeper understanding of what good art is. This activity and process is not only essential for art experts in the form of critics and curators, but it is even more important for artists to adequately value their own work and development. If you create art just for fun or as a hobby, then it really doesn’t matter. However, if you want to be occupied with art professionally, then this is the very first thing you should be doing.

‘Art World Art’ & Inspiration

Having the right frame of reference is the very first premise of a successful art career. As I stated in the opening sentence of this article, becoming a successful artist always requires ‘good art.’ Even more, it requires so-called ‘art world art.’ To become a contemporary artist, you need to create contemporary art. And to create contemporary art, you must understand contemporary art. Many artists pursue a career in the contemporary art world without being able to name ten contemporary artists within their niche, discipline, or style.

Therefore, I must stress the importance of developing and nurturing your own taste, knowledge, and frame of reference to be able to know what this ‘art world art’ is in the first place. If you like it, you can become better at it by having the right inspiration and perspective. If you don’t like it, you know where you stand with your art. You can avoid wasting time pursuing gallery representation if you are creating art that has no chance of getting any success in the art world—think of academic figure drawings, old master landscape paintings, or typical hobby painter sub-niches such as pour painting or pastiches of Gerhard Richters abstracts.

This is exactly why your inspiration and frame of reference matter. The first premise for anything we do, or to grow and improve in the right direction, is to have the right inspiration and learn from the right examples. Most people tend to look at whatever they like at the moment via social media, and the algorithm notices what they like at this moment and, therefore, pushes more similar content. So instead of visiting the top museums and art galleries to learn from the masters, we stay at home and scroll. As a result, in today’s world, artists seem to end up in a rabbit hole of similar content and are being unconsciously pushed towards the same art and inspiration that does well for the Instagram algorithm, but perhaps not in real life.

Tip of the Day: Filter Your Inspiration By Experts

So if this inspiration does not align with where we want to go—for instance, established gallery representation and success in the highest realms of the art world—then we’ll never make it. There is so much art out there, especially online, and it needs to be filtered by experts and proven authorities of the art world, such as renowned art galleries, established artists, top-notch museums, and renowned curators, not by algorithms. Therefore, the best way to develop a high-end taste and understand how your art should look is by consuming a lot of top-notch art. As a result, if your goal is to find gallery representation, you must immerse yourself in the high-end art world before being able to understand it, let alone enter it.

This might sound like gatekeeping and a controversial piece of advice, as if I am imposing on you to become something you are not or to learn from something you do not like. But that’s not the case. If you don’t like what you see, opt for a different career path as we have discussed extensively in our article on Career Paths for Artists. If you do want to learn to become the best artist possible and pursue success in the art world, learn from artists that you genuinely like, but are also approved by the art world, for instance, by being represented by today’s best art galleries.

Putting Theory Into Practice

Then, it is time to learn from the masters. For instance, select at least twenty artists you really, really like and feel that their work resonates with things that you are exploring in your work and are being represented by one of the following galleries:

Go through the represented artists and a filtered selection of proven artists, and pick the artists you like, following your own taste and natural urges while being sure they are a good example or benchmark. Write these artists down.

You can use this selection as a set of proven examples of how to tackle very specific aspects of art. Think of how they finish the sides of their paintings. What frames do they use? How do they go about titling their work? How do they realize specific exhibition concepts? How do they talk and write about their work? How do they generate consistency while maintaining recognizability via recurring themes, techniques, motifs, presentation strategies, et cetera?

Follow them. Study them. Become them while remaining true to your vision and creative urges.

Last Updated on May 4, 2024