Jim Barr and Mary Barr have just posted an interesting snapshot of the Auckland art scene circa 1968 over on Over the Net. The photo got me to thinking of where the powerbase in the art world/market lies now, and who would be in a similar photo if shot today, and more interestingly one shot in another 30 years.
The current photo wouldn't be too hard, though maybe a bit tricky when it came to identifying the artists who will make it to the history books. Qualifying gallerists, collectors, writers are all fairly identifiable.
The photo in 30 years is not such a given. I'm not bold enough to hazard a guess as to what of today's artists would make it, and even less certain of the curators, young gallerists and critics. I'm sure they exist, but the whole wider issue of the lack of credible arts/exhibition industry succession planning, as bravely raised by Peter Peyer makes things quite tricky.
As an aside, I like the fact that a non-art publication was prepared to take such a close look at the people driving the art industry, and not just the individuals at the fashionable forefront (Vanity Fair have done a fairly interesting art issue recently, though I'm not sure what relevance a blue photo of Brad Pitt has to the contemporary art market) as we tend to see in the likes of Urbis, H+E, and other glossy NZ mags.
