6 April 2011
19.30 - 21.00
Language: Dutch
Location: Academie Minerva, Gedempte Zuiderdiep 158 Groningen
In her pamphlet De ja-sprong (The Yes Leap), Anna Tilroe inventories and denounces the situation in the present-day artworld. She advocates a new élan that does justice to history while simultaneously offering resistance to the world as it is.
‘Art has always functioned in a context of power, status and money. That is its destiny. Nevertheless, the twentieth century witnessed the advent of an artworld in which there was a certain power balance between artists, galleries, museum directors and critics. This equilibrium has been seriously disturbed in the last twenty-five years. The heady perfume of capital, glamour and sensation that currently surrounds art also influences the position of art in society. Many people regard art as the showpiece of the super-rich, the ensign of a decadent jetset, or an exclusive form of entertainment. This image is true if we ascribe totalitarian power to the market. But I propose waiting a little before we do so.’
Anna Tilroe is a much-appreciated art critic. She wrote for the Volkskrant and NRC Handelsblad (both Dutch national daily newspapers), and has also published three books: De blauwe gitaar (The Blue Guitar), De huid van de kameleon (The Skin of the Chameleon), and Het blinkende stof (Shining Dust). As the artistic director of the Sonsbeek 2008 sculpture exhibition, she made history with a procession in which works of art were carried solemnly through the streets. In 2010 she was appointed extraordinary professor of Art and History at the Radboud University in Nijmegen.