CATCH THE ARTIST

Performance at the Romanian Museum of Contemporary Art 2019
Performers: Gabriela Mateescu, Valentina Iancu and Virginia Lupu

Performance with Valentina Iancu, curator

The inconsistency between the demand of the market and the offer of the universities is even more pre-eminent in the field of art, where the professionalization of the artist in a certain delimited field (painting, sculpture, film, video etc) presupposes from the beginning certain skills predestined to be repeated for improvement. These will be monetarized according to the degree of improvement, but not only that. Also, the skills are expected to be capitalized through self-management and artist branding efforts.

The validation of the artist`s works is seen as a continuous marketing strategy and drafting of the artist’s imagery by institutions, galleries or other partners that, in return for “visibility,” take advantage of the unpaid artist’s practice.

This unequal exchange of power, imported from the corporate environment – an eternally unpaid internship in the name of building a “CV and Portfolio” that will then be used to confirm the value of the artist’s works – is the model used to devote a mercantile exploitation system on behalf of recognition of the authenticity of something that cannot be captured, but can be monetized.

The project CATCH THE ARTIST is divided into 2 performances that explore the power relationships that arise between the artists and 2 categories of Power: the artist versus the galleries, curators, cultural institutions on one side and artists versus the public on other side.

Curator Valentina Iancu prepares the artist Gabriela Mateescu to be “presentable” for the public with a sports workout that takes place on the floors of the National Museum of Contemporary Art. The curator gives orders to the artist to present herself to important members of the audience (artists, collectors, gallerists, museum directors) at the grand opening of the Museum`s new exhibition season. The purpose is to train Gabriela to speak more elegantly about her art and humiliate her when she doesn`t do a good job, until she starts crying.

Photo credit: Gabriela Pană © MNAC

Performance with artist Virginia Lupu

The artist Virginia Lupu, and after 1 hour, Gabriela Mateescu, was made available to the public in a completely dark room.

The artist is trapped, filmed with an infrared camera and broadcast outside.

The audience can see the room and one person is sent inside, for 5 minutes, wearing headphones, through which the people that are viewing from the outside send instructions to “catch the artist”.

The work talks about the relationship between the audience and the artist inside the museum (or galleries, or art fairs), turning the space in one that entertains the public, where the artist is chased like an animal in a cage, with a zoo gaze.

The chase for the next fresh artist on the market, by both the museums and the audience, translates into a rush, a shock and a fast-forward attitude. The audience is having fun seeing how the artist will be “caught”, giving directions and participating in her pursuit.The actions simulate the artistic scene, where the artist moves between the state of waiting and preparing to be discovered to become the next hit on the art market – “the fresh, must see new artist.”

Curators, galleries, art fairs, museums “train” the artist to be presentable to the public, they create an aura, a package.

The two performances reenact a “society of the spectacle”, where the audience watches unaffected how the curator is treating badly the artist to become more “presentable”, while others are amused to catch the artist trapped in a dark place.