The World Is In Front Of You

Pretty Lady just got back from Chelsea, and is delighted to report that the show she went to see was every bit as splendid as she thought it would be. She will review it on her Art Blog, soon.

However, she is not quite so delighted to report that as far as the persons hosting the show were concerned, Pretty Lady might as well have been invisible. Nary a cordial 'hello' or 'how are you'? or 'do you have any questions?' did she receive; not once did anyone working there so much as glance in her direction, although she was the only visitor in the room.

Now, although this is, unfortunately, standard behavior for persons who host shows in Chelsea, Pretty Lady remains eternally shocked by it. All the more so because lately, she has been the recipient of an avalanche of Press Releases, Publicity Materials, and Obsequious Schmoozing by hosts of art exhibitions who have sussed out the fact that she hosts a minor Art Blog. Some of these shameless promotional attempts have emanated from the selfsame persons who have repeatedly, overtly snubbed her when she appeared at their galleries In Person.

She is here to inform these people that they are wasting their time and money by continuing to court her. Press releases from galleries which cannot maintain a modicum of civility when she takes the trouble to visit them go straight into the circular file, unread.

Pretty Lady suspects that this sort of crass, self-defeating behavior stems from the mythic fantasy that Somebody Out There is responsible for the success or failure of one's endeavors. It is never the lady standing in front of you who is going to write a rave review of your exhibition, purchase a painting, tell her high-powered Art World friends all about it and whisper into the ear of the Whitney. It is That Figure Off In The Distance.

No wonder the vast majority of the Art in these places is not worth a hill of navy beans. For Great Art, in her book, is about True Perception, and the art dealers of Chelsea do not seem to be able to perceive the world that is right in front of their noses.

However, Pretty Lady has no wish to penalize genuine Artists for the poor behavior of their representatives. So she will write that Rave Review anyway.

But she rather suspects that, particularly in the current economic climate, the eBay model of art sales and marketing is the one to bet on.