Blog #1: State of the Art Documentary - Claudia Page

State of the Art (2019) is a documentary that follows curators from the Crystal Bridges Museum, Don and Chad, as they embark on a journey to curate an exhibition that features artists across the United States. Beginning in northwest Arkansas, in 10 months the two traveled more than 100,000 miles for the exhibition, visiting over 1,000 artists. Their goal, according to the documentary, was to “bring contemporary art to life again.” They felt that prior to this, there was a misconception that contemporary art in America was only being made in major urban cities, like New York City and Los Angeles. Unfortunately, a lot of it made elsewhere goes unnoticed, especially the towns in each state far from where artists are most expected to work. Not only did Don and Chad want to meet a diverse group of artists, they also wanted to explore new cities across the country to see what those communities has to offer, or what makes them unique. 

Example of one artist’s studio

Cities like New York have historically been hubs for art, and as a result have plenty of resources for artists who live there. Sculptural artists like Peter Oakley, who works out of the space pictured above, mentioned that he doesn’t live near any art supply stores. He gets his sculpture tools from building supply stores. Artists who work out of “middle of nowhere” towns produce work I consistently feel are authentic. The documentary also allowed me to hear the artists themselves speak about their work, and they always sound so passionate about what they make. The art world can be a vicious cycle: you feel like you need to “make it” in a big city to be seen, then you hear countless stories of big-name artists hiring other people to make their art for them. The more people chase this dream of being well-known, the easier it is to lose the reason they created in the first place. Artists like Peter seem content with their lives. Peter prefers to live in a cheaper area so he can put more expenses into his art supplies. He enjoys a quieter life, and can work in his studio for long periods of time without socializing with others. In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with either way. Some people thrive off of being surrounded by creativity, and some find it overwhelming or distracting.

There is a broad issue throughout the documentary brought up: art is not accessible to everyone. One artist from the documentary is shown giving a presentation. She explains how she created a project of video portraits, featuring Americans that experienced loss during a recession. She shared that she invited everyone featured in the videos to the exhibition, but none of them could go. Typical museum hours are not compatible with the average American’s work schedule. Contemporary art is about the present, and the United States is made up of more than just the famous art hubs we often see work from. The exhibition and its accompanying documentary served as a reminder of this. It was refreshing to see how lesser known communities are inspired by their surroundings to create art. There were a variety of cities featured, and therefore a variety of different mediums, practices, approaches, and reasons for making. 

Examples of featured artists’ work from documentary

Peter’s work in his own space vs on display in a gallery

I am curious what others may think about the theme of this documentary. I think most if not all of us would agree that the curated show was a good idea. The issue of artists going unknown is complicated. On one hand, it would make sense to bring funding to smaller towns so they can have their own gallery spaces or art supply stores, but what possible negative effects could come from doing so?