Knocking Back Schlitz With Dana Schutz

In the new issue of Bomb, writer Mei Chin interviews trendy (and talented) painter Dana Schutz. One of the highlights is from this insightful audience member (OK, me):

Audience Member: Your career has exploded in the past two years. Is that a double-edged-sword, since the art world is a marketplace? Is there a lot of pressure to maintain your "brand" as a successful young painter?

DS: No. the market is not my concern in making the paintings. Where it gets bad is when people stop seeing the work and start seeing the system outside it. If people stop seeing what's going on in the paintings and only see them for their market value, which they definitely can do, then I feel conflicted. I start feeling like I should complicate how my work functions in that system. There are artists working in that vein and I find their practice admirable and important. But, you know, primarily, I'm interested in making these things. I like my everyday life; I have this community around me. Everything still feels the same—kind of. I mean, I'm up here on this stage, which is weird, but I still have the same friends and we talk about art, not the art market.

Yikes, how embarrassing to read "double-edged sword" in print (also, the transcript writers subtly changed and dumbed down what I said -- though I have to take credit for the cliche). At the event, Dana bristled a little at my question, which was fine. I wanted to ask a less ass-kissey question than what everybody else was asking.

Tags:culture, Dana Schutz, Mei Chin, art