Interview with Fabrice Ehrgott, director of the Municipal Museum of Modern Art

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Contemporary Art - answers to questions (19.10.2007, newspaper "Les Echos")

Contemporary Art Fair, such as FIAK, avant-garde exhibitions and representative gathering monstrous amount of spectators. Everywhere open art gallery for the latest fashion, which exhibited a desperate young artists.

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But along with a small core of major collector and a more open community of art lovers who occasionally buy it, pretty much publtiki was at a loss, we can say it does not take the works of this art, which she did not understand where it not see any meaning or beauty. This public lacks any "key" with which this art is read or the distance needed for the evaluation of art created today. How do I read in vsemh these phenomena, how to distinguish the brilliant discoveries of ambitious and spectacular, but essentially empty gesture? How not to miss the main thing - guess that will remain a subject of admiration in fifty years? The newspaper Les Echos Weekend "invited one of the major scholars of modern art Fabrice Ehrgott, director of the Municipal Museum of Modern Art in Paris, which will tell you the" secret of production "of contemporary art, selection criteria, the allowable limit of errors, the role of the market and vktualnye trends.

- How do I find this work of art?

Since then, both in one day, the beginning of XX century artist Marcel Duchamp decided to turn up the bottom of urinal, calling it "Fountain" and argued that it is a work of art since his gesture was adopted, the notion that is an art, and that - not much has changed. Beauty is in the classical sense of the word is no longer a sufficient criterion, academic manner, the rules of the images do not have more than walking, and artists express themselves through various means such as painting, drawing, installation, video ...

At the beginning of the XXI century for a few hours people are at the opposite end of the planet, they communicate through small boxes without wires (wireless phones), they invent non-existent in reality worlds - cinema, virtual reality - only natural that artists "plastic" as their now called, respond to these fundamental changes that reflect their vision of our ever-changing and volatile society and talk about the loss of values that a society generates. The evolution of this radical, but many ways to display it, so really in the contemporary art difficult to understand.

- How to understand what is really wonderful, and that - no?

To Fabrice Ehrgott art history is a key element to understand contemporary art and to reject the current academic manner. Should be judged by analogy. "In order to try to assess the importance of a style of art or an artist, I compare them with fnndamentalnymi currents in the history of art, is not understood at the time of its appearance, such as impressmionizm or cubism. I think of modern German art, such artists as Joseph Beuys and Georg Baselitz - founders of a new form of art, reference to which is the history of mankind. As the Germans, inheritors of the nation, has committed countless crimes during the III Reich, they are haunted by the question: "How did all this happen?" Art allows us to transfer weight, the weight of history. But immediately see the value of an artist is extremely difficult. In the 1980's. Baselitz called provincial artist. "

The second fundamental approach for the formation of judgments about contemporary art is to try to step back in the future. Fabrice Ehrgott all the time forcing myself to answer the question: "What people will think about this product a few years?", Or even more specific: "Would it upset me after a while?" He explains: "We can follow the method of collectors, who put a picture in front of his bed to see if she does not get tired of them after a month or two ... "But the choice, performed alone, without dialogue, has its limits. "In order to choose a work of art must be documented, to learn the opinion of historians, other artists and collectors."

- How to avoid mistakes in their judgments?

Art history is full of coups. For example, only in the early twentieth century were truly appreciated geniuses of world art, for example, Vermeer - despite the fact that he lived and worked in the XVII century. Tastes are changing, changing fashion, art should change the sensitivity of people. In modern art, of course, from the recognition to forget, sometimes undeserved, is too little time, especially since in some cases, artists will only support a few major scholars with prestigious names, but can very quickly change their mind and withdraw from its yesterday's idols -- enough to remember the impact that has in the UK collector Charles Saatchi, known for its ephemeral tastes and hobbies ... Sometimes you realize that for the visually appealing aspects of the work is worth nothing, and then the question arises, not whether these works are overrated?

"It is clear that from time to time, museums are mistaken in their choice", - said Fabrice Ehrgott. But in order that neither the museum nor the artists have not suffered, "it is better to buy too much than not enough. Of course, I myself have made mistakes in 25 years of my professional activities. But these mistakes have been made possible because he sinned overly cautious: "I" missed "phenomena such as the American artist Mike Kelley, whose works were exhibited in a Paris gallery since the early 1990's. Its importance has been underestimated in France. Perhaps his art looked too "trash"? But deep down inside of it seemed to me very good. Perhaps this institution as a museum, is too slow ... But fortunately, the French museums in general are buying a lot of ... "This reduces the risk to miss significant artistic currents.

- Who determines the main trends in art?

In our time, art criticism has lost much of its influence. Fans are ready to buy a lot, but they rarely read comments, or essay. Effect of written recommendations decreases. The most strongly affected by mega-collectors, those who buy huge quantities of the most promoted artists. So collectors with more modest resources geared to young unknown artists and dream that their "artists" will be the speed famous. Museums continue to play an extremely important role, since, according to Fabrice Ehrgott, "the museum has the opportunity to show all the work - and the professionals and the general public. Museums are places where a final selection, they can check the quality of the artist. In this work, on display works "France remains a historical references, but the main aliyanie provided through the U.S. capital, which are allocated for the purchase of works of art."

- Is the Art Market truthful judge?

It must be remembered that the art market does not judge and is not always a place for determining the value of works of art. The market only reflects a certain time hobby-endowed funds of people some direction or artist. Fabrice Ehrgott "glad that the current art market is booming. This proves that contemporary art plays a crucial role for the mental equilibrium oschestva. But because of this price is increased. In this phenomenon, there is something excessive, and should moderate its impact. The works of some excellent artists reach a fabulous price ... But the work of lesser artists, too, sometimes are very expensive. " Against all expectations, "art has become one of the last spiritual refuge of our society."

- Is it necessary to understand art, to love him?

There is a category of fans able to see the significance of works of art, not understanding what it means, knowing nothing about the position or the artist's life. But these "instinctive" experts are very rare. And in the old art, and modern characters predominate, image codes, there is a "script" for each period or every artist who can "read" a work of art.

Fabrice Ehrgott thinks that there should be a pedagogical approach. In our era, one can easily get acquainted with the works of modern art. "In periods when the art are breaking traditions, the work of Cezanne and Picasso exhibited very little. They had no visitors. I can not even speak of Marseilles Duchamp, who never sold anything, which began to be considered significant artist only after it assessed the American artists Jasper Johns and Rauschenberg.

- The reaction of rejection of modern art is logical, since it broke with conventional forms of beauty. Ehrgott explains that "the spectator, in principle, is not looking for another form of beauty than that to which he was accustomed, and which he likes. Our task, the task of museums - to explain to the public that just as she feels the pleasure of listening to new music, she can get great pleasure from new forms of art. "

- What is the main trends?

In order to give a list of the main trends of contemporary art, best opredelitt means by which to enjoy the artists to express themselves. There is currently a Back To painting, including figurative, but the artists willing to move from one style to another (from figurative painting to abstract) and from one form to another - sculpture, painting, installation, film, video, not erecting between them barriers and ierarhiziruya them.

Fabrice Ehrgott refuses to distinguish between works of art on the basis of "tools" or techniques used by the artist: "Such an approach does not allow to outline the panorama of art. As for painting, which I defended, when it is not yet back in fashion, now in this form created many works of poor quality. In the spirit of art is important, not technology. You can create a remarkable work, as did Kurt Schwitters and Picasso, with cork, found on the street. And at the same time, the product of rock crystal or diamonds can be completely devoid of beauty and poetry.
He believes that "one of the main centers of interest of contemporary artists is relevant to the history and nature - they are clearly present in the works of many German artists. The plot of disgust for himself in society as a constant presence in American art. You can take the example of the art of Jeff Koons, his work expresses a certain melancholy, idealization konsyumeristskogo nightmare, in which we live. "

Artists often talk about "our relationship to objects. Just now in the Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art exhibition in Paris is a young French artist Mathieu Mercier (34), laureate of Marcel Duchamp in 2003, is one of the exhibited works of art - a huge white wall, covered with a constellation of colored points. Distance the object is very poetic. Approach - and see that it covers for the nails (these are pieces of plastic, they screwed into the wall, so you can insert the nails in them, I do not know what it's called in Russian, I think they do in the USSR was). "Today it is impossible to look at a poppy field, not remembering Monet. Tomorrow, perhaps, seeing these covers for the nails, the viewer will remember Mathieu Mercier. He made a casual gesture, but brought him to the limit - a wall littered with myriad of covers for the nails - an expression of one form of phobia. Phobia or minor repair work? The artist's work speaks not only about the relationship between man and the world, but also about his relationship with his own little world, his home, his way of life ...


Pictures of the great and small, historical paintings and genre paintings ... These different types of creativity has always been represented in art history.

Zhyudit Benhamou-Huet (in cooperation with Philip Sheviye)
Fabrice Ehrgott was a former employee of the Pompidou Center and director of the museum in Strasbourg.

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this post should be a copy of our discussion about contemporary art))))