many in the art world, artists included, feel contemporary art can only be seen properly in a perfect white space. after years of showing art floating in pristine arctic isolation, it's a revelation to break out of the white cube time warp.
if art can't look good outside the antiseptic gallery spaces dictated by museum fashion of the last 25 years, then it condemns itself to a worryingly limited lifespan. what's more, that once cutting edge gallery style is beginning to look like a cliche trendy bar or loft conversion.
it's time for a bit of rethink—about how works are installed in relation to each other, about how one-person shows can be presented in a less formulaic pattern, and even about how paintings can be framed to help the public see them in a broader context.
most important, museums should respect their audience and give up the ropes and cordons they use to surround and effectively destroy so many works of art. and instead of spending millions on creating identical, austere modernist palaces in every world city, they could actually use the money to buy some art.
- charles saatchi, "a private view," time out london: the saatchi gallery september 2003
posted March 25, 2004 in art. 2002