“Art Purgatory”

Art purgatory is right next door to hell. Here I stubbornly cling on to the hope that one day I will be knocking on heavens door. They keep me locked up in this cage. Can’ t they see this is why my art says rage. By myself but not alone, art purgatory becomes my throne, as I adapt to the unknown. They keep me tied, it makes me well. I’m getting better can’t you tell?

Art purgatory is your favorite painting in the show. It is the most expensive artwork the artist ever sold. It is the painting gathering dust in the galleries backroom.

Art purgatory is the way the university professor, whose own career never took off the ground, tries to instill into you their taste. It is when the biggest name on the show invitation is that of the curator.

Art purgatory is when the artist description and write up is just a paraphrasing of everything on the first page of a Google search. It is the 50/50 split of
the gallery and artist.

Art purgatory is when speculators have moved on to a younger batch of artists. It is the adulterated cocaine that gives you a runny nose the morning after a show opening.

Art purgatory is the billionaire collector who asks for a discount. It is the young collector who doesn’t have the balls to develop his own taste.

Art purgatory is when the mustiness of the monsoon cultivates mold on the surface of unfinished paintings. It is the wannabe artist thinking his work is important because he has a lot of followers on social media.

Art purgatory is when the free beer in the shows opening runs out. It is the overcrowded stable of exclusive artists galleries represent.

Art purgatory is when your career achievement is being short listed for the Ateneo Art Awards. It is the abstract painting people pretend to understand.

Art purgatory is the agenda laden fluff piece about an artist going to auction. It is the artist who has perfected their spiel in emailing institutions for stipends.

Art purgatory is when having children at home is the reason people cannot collect your work.

Art purgatory is the little green dot they stick next to the artwork. It is the artist who believes his work is more than just decoration.

Art purgatory is the difficulty returning to reality after staring into the void for too long. It is when someone needs to read the exhibition notes to understand and form an opinion on a show.

Art purgatory is forgetting the brilliant idea you conceptualized but were too spaced out to remember or write down. It is the way an artist attempts to hide that the signature style they want to develop for collectors is a derivative.

Art purgatory is how your existence as an artist is just as good as your last show.

At this point we come finally get to the point of this writeup. Given the fickle nature of art and its layers, artists have the odds constantly stacked against them. One must always find a way to remain relevant or else there are 20 other artists just waiting to take that place afforded by the galleries and institutions which serve as the de facto platform where the most progressive art is supposed to be showcased.

The show by Robert Langenegger titled “Art Purgatory” is here to illustrate the power of art to neutralize something negative such as the 7 Deadly Sins and regurgitate it into pretty little artworks for the public to judge and decipher at their leisure. Here we can witness, just Dante Alighieri’s “Dante’s Purgatorio”, the artist in his trials and tribulations on the road to the artistic absolution necessary to enter its heaven.