Role of the Curator

One of the problems that I am currently facing is the role of the curator in creating an art exhibition. In my Issues in Contemporary Art class, we are looking at the increasing role of the curator becoming a powerhouse in the art world and how problematic that has become. In the 1980s, there is a radical shift is seeing art as a means of gaining extreme wealth. The art market is becoming flooded with very rich people buying up works of art as an investment that will eventually make them even more money. During this time, the role of the critic is important in promoting the reputation and the professions of many artists. Artists can become overnight successes with their works being of no value one day and the next day worthy of a million dollar paycheck. I find this problematic because as an art history major, I think that works should be seen instead of locked up in a freezer closet until it appreciated in value. I think that the term value is incredibly problematic in the art world. But even more importantly, I am beginning to question my role as a kind of “curator” for the re-hanging of the library.
I know that this is one of the only ways to make the art collection more visible on campus, but I also think that since only a select portion of Elon’s population is making all the decisions about what and how things should be displayed is troublesome. As many of those dealing hands-on with the art collection have noticed, many of the pieces are not of the greatest quality. In fact, there are a number of pieces that will not be accessioned into the collection because we (as the university) must establish some sort of policy for collecting to avoid ending up with boxes of “junk” from the attic of a former Elon alum. While I do think there are pieces of more importance and significance to go up on the walls of the library, why am I the one making the decisions of what people should and should not see? I know that I have been working with the collection for about a year now, but I don’t think that I am well versed enough on the collection to know exactly what is worthy of being shown, what should be left in the storage closet, and what should be silently disposed of whenever possible. Much of this collection is dealt with based on personal preference. I just don’t know if I agree with the idea of being a “curator” (in a sense) and controlling the accessibility of certain pieces of art over others.
In the book Contemporary Art by Brandon Taylor, chapter 5 is titled “In and Beyond the Museum: 1984-1998.” In this chapter, Taylor looks at the role of the curator in the art world of the 1980s and 1990s. He argues that these “new” curators assemble concepts. “’Concept’ exhibitions comprising small numbers of works by dozens of artists have made the contemporary art museum a showcase and a spectacle, yet one in which the individual philosophy can become obscured by the wider and more marketable agenda,” (138). Granted, I am not out to make money off of these works (not other than getting funds to pay for proper storage facilities and maybe even to begin collecting works of better value so we can begin building a solid art collection), but this is exactly what we are doing with this project. We are assembling works of art from the University’s art collection to fit in themes that have been chosen based on what we have and specific areas of individual interest. Is this not exactly what some artists in the 80s and 90s were protesting in their own ways in their art? Since I have been studying contemporary art, I have noticed that the museum setting and even formal exhibitions have been rejected at certain times. I just don’t want what I am doing to become problematic to me. I really don’t think that there is a way of completely altering the concept of an exhibition (especially at this point for the re-hanging), but I do think that I may take a more radical approach to my own exhibition for fellows. I don’t want to be the sole curator of a show that represents exactly what I want it to stand for. Instead, there needs to be more than that. I think that it should be more than just making sure people see it as more than just stuff on the wall and much more than just a summary of sorts of the art collection. I don’t know what the next step or level will be yet, but I am hoping that this idea can be developed and cultivated into something more powerful than I originally anticipated.