Contemporary Curation and Accessibility
Traditionally, galleries were organized on a historic and geographical basis: 18th century European Art in one room, 17th Century American art in another. In an effort to make fine art more accessible, Tate Modern and Tate Liverpool have used innovative curatorial models that are thematic in nature. At Tate Modern, paintings are displayed around themes such as still life and landscape. Each of the themed exhibits include works from a historic and geographically diverse area with the aim of thinking about how the theme has been explored across history. The current special exhibition at Tate Liverpool does the same thing while adopting a highly populist note, by choosing Alice in Wonderland as the subject.
It is not necessarily a bad thing to embrace a certain populism in art curation. And it is not a bad thing for contemporary artists to think about how they can make their own work accessible to a much larger audience. Tate is known for embracing this remit and Liverpool is often covered with pop up display stands advertising the coming exhibitions.
It is a myth that fine artists eschew popular culture. If Andy Warhol was alive today, he would most certainly be doing his work on roller banners. During the last Liverpool Biennial the hub point on Renshaw Street used the latest in digital printing to make vinyl window displays of some very edgy contemporary art. It is important of course to keep a critical eye about it. Many of the accessibility moves are in response to criticism of Arts Council England for their elitist use of tax payer money. The best thing to do is decide for yourself. Visit the silent disco at Tate Liverpool and I am sure that you will be convinced that art that is accessible to the masses is not only good, but fun as well.
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