I love you but you're betraying me.

Richard Prince

Richard Prince x Louis Vuitton

Nowadays I've got the feeling that I'm a little bit betrayed.

Of course, that's life, and everyone needs to make a living. But, still...

This feeling I've had for some months now deals with contemporary art. Today, those who haven't heard of Jeff Koons or Takashi Murakami are undoubtedly the same that don't know we're in 2010....

And I must say that I still enjoy wandering thru the galleries of Le Marais in Paris, but the feeling is just not the same.

From a Kris Van Assche exhibit to a Louis Vuitton bag by Richard Prince, thousands of articles in famous fashion magazines throughout the world help spreading a culture that a few people previously owned, created and supported, and, once everyone knows about the artist and the exhibit, as much interesting as it could be, to my own mind it has lost its sheer origin and spirit.

I'm not being discornful, but do you think every single people coming into a Louis Vuitton store and seeing this Murakami or Prince bag could understand and judge at it's real value a painting of the same artists if exposed in a gallery?

Maybe the 150,00 readers of French Vogue's contemporary art section can estimate the true meaning of those masterpieces - even though one can argue that we might not have the hindsight required to judge it yet, but look at what this mainstreaming effect had on poor Pop Art.

Takashi Murakami

Takashi Murakami x Louis Vuitton

I did not even mentioned Pinault's Punta Della dogana and Palazzo Grassi; or Bernard Arnault's contemporary foundation designed by Frank O. Gehry...

However I gained back some respect for Pinault since he made the choice to put sarah Burton creative director of McQueen and not some uber famous designer.

Kris Van Assche installation

And what about the skull by Damien Hirst sold thousands of dollars? What will become of art, then? What will be the real goal of the artists at the very beginning of an artwork? Will they be seeking for the most important revenues or will they still express their inner vision?

Fortunately, today, some people and some magazines still support those "real" artists (I'm not doing any advertising here but have a look at http://lurvemag.com/notes.php ). But who will support those magazines supporting those artists? In the end, is there any other choice than that of going mainstream...?