ARTISTS TALKING

# 11 [13 January 2009]

A Class Act: Towards The democratisation of the Artist

The relationship between making art and social heritage is a complicated one in this country.

At Seeds of Change, one of the NAN Roadshow events exploring the art maket, which I organised at the ICA, London curator Fred Mann (director of East London gallery Fred, and formerly one half of Rhodes & Mann) stated: “In the UK, much of the art world is  connected to the class system. Artists should be careful what they wish for, as some of the early artist-led initiatives have now become  Thatcherite models in order to fit in with what they perceive as the art market. Where is the art debate when that happens? How much are we prepared to compromise?"

The democratization of art goes hand in hand with the democratization of the artistic profession. Creating an infrastructure where individual artists are able to be self-determined and apply directly for financial support is essential to both, in countries where making art is considered a luxury of the few who are not struggling to survive.

I believe that in the UK supporting individual artists, as well as organisations,  contributes to the perception of art as relevant to society, as opposed to it being the preserve of the affluent.