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Quotes by

Jerry Saltz

Contrary to popular opinion, things dont go stale particularly fast in the art world. – Jerry Saltz

The New York art world readily proves people wrong. Just when folks say that things stink and flibbertigibbet critics wish the worst on us all because were not pure enough, good omens appear. – Jerry Saltz

I dont know much about auctions. I sometimes go to previews and see art sardined into ugly rooms. Ive gawked at the gaudy prices, and gaped at well-clad crowds of happy white people conspicuously spending hundreds of millions of dollars. – Jerry Saltz

To me, nothing in the art world is neutral. The idea of disinterest strikes me as boring, dishonest, dubious, and uninteresting. – Jerry Saltz

Its great that New York has large spaces for art. But the enormous immaculate box has become a dated, even oppressive place. Many of these spaces were designed for sprawling installations, large paintings, and the Relational Aesthetics work of the past fifteen years. – Jerry Saltz

I love art dealers. In some ways, theyre my favorite people in the art world. Really. I love that they put their money where their taste is, create their own aesthetic universes, support artists, employ people, and do all of this while letting us see art for free. Many are visionaries. – Jerry Saltz

The art world is an all-volunteer force. No one has to be here if he or she doesnt want to be, and we should be associating with anyone we want to. – Jerry Saltz

The giant white cube is now impeding rather than enhancing the rhythms of art. It preprograms a viewers journey, shifts the emphasis from process to product, and lacks individuality and openness. Its not that art should be seen only in rutty bombed-out environments, but it should seem alive. – Jerry Saltz

I see 30 to 40 gallery shows a week, and no matter what kind of mood Im in, no matter how bad the art is, I almost always feel better afterward. I can learn as much from bad art as from good. – Jerry Saltz

Wolfgang Tillmans stunning large-scale pictures, being shown for the first time, were so offhand I failed to see them as art. – Jerry Saltz

Its art that pushes against psychological and social expectations, that tries to transform decay into something generative, that is replicative in a baroque way, that isnt about progress, and wants to – as Walt Whitman put it – contain multitudes. – Jerry Saltz

Jeffrey Deitch is the Jeff Koons of art dealers. Not because hes the biggest, best, or the richest of his kind. But because in some ways hes the weirdest (which is saying a lot when youre talking about the wonderful, wicked, lovable, and annoying creatures known as art dealers). – Jerry Saltz

Too many younger artists, critics, and curators are fetishizing the sixties, transforming the period into a deformed cult, a fantasy religion, a hip brand, and a crippling disease. – Jerry Saltz

One argument goes that recessions are good for female artists because when money flies out the window, women are allowed in the house. The other claims that when money ebbs, so do prospects for women. – Jerry Saltz

In the seventies, a group of American artists seized the means not of production but of reproduction. They tore apart visual culture at a time of no money, no market, and no one paying attention except other artists. Vietnam and Watergate had happened everything in America was being questioned. – Jerry Saltz

Artists working for other artists is all about knowing, learning, unlearning, initiating long-term artistic dialogues, making connections, creating covens, and getting temporary shelter from the storm. – Jerry Saltz

Our culture now wonderfully, alchemically transforms images and history into artistic material. The possibilities seem endless and wide open. – Jerry Saltz

The secret of food lies in memory – of thinking and then knowing what the taste of cinnamon or steak is. – Jerry Saltz

Abstraction brings the world into more complex, variable relations it can extract beauty, alternative topographies, ugliness, and intense actualities from seeming nothingness. – Jerry Saltz

Many museums are drawing audiences with art that is ostensibly more entertaining than stuff that just sits and invites contemplation. Interactivity, gizmos, eating, hanging out, things that make noise – all are now the norm, often edging out much else. – Jerry Saltz