Cult of Personality

I recently wrote a couple of book reviews for Moonshine Arts that got me thinking about this topic – one a look at the bizarre character of Salvador Dali called Dali and I: The Surreal Story by Stan Lauryssens and the other a modern take on the Vasari biographical standby The Lives of the Artists by Calvin Tompkins.

So much of the success one finds in any field is the ability to exude a gestalt persona that radiates beyond actual characteristics. This is perhaps more true in the commodified and fetishized arena of art. Tompkins spent a good deal of time with several of the artists that most squarely fall within this category (i.e. more rock star than artist) – Julian Schnabel, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, etc. I must admit that Jeff Koons is one of my least favorite artists, and he has built his career on the cult of personality. His work strikes me as derivative, mechanically-produced, and fetishized to a ridiculous degree. The value of his creative vision is in no way reflected in the inflated monetary value of his work. And he comes off as a total jerk, seemingly on purpose, as a way to enhance his holier-than-thou kitsch value.

My thoughts on this subject meandered over to “success” in general (in this sense defined as oneself as societally valued commodity), professionally, academically, and socially. Schmoozing seems more effective than the genuine expression of abilities. The golden attributes of humility and sincerity are devalued in a media/Hollywood-engorged society that inflates the worth of commodities – including the commodity of personality – to an unnatural degree based on how they momentarily sparkle in the light.

Nowhere is this more apparent than at a private (i.e. invitations only sent out to our clients who buy thousands of dollars of inventory) gallery opening. This phenomenon plays out again and again in the conversations that are thinly veiled exhibitions of wealth and power, in the symbolic jewels and baubles. I’m not a great schmoozer, and I’m not convinced that it’s a skill I wish to develop. There are only so many cheeks I can kiss (face cheeks and otherwise…) and hands I can shake before my mind shuts down. I prefer meaningful and thoughtful conversations to vapid gloating and ego-stroking. And when they all drink the Kool-Aid in the cult of personality, I’ll still be around to tell the tale.



~ Heather