Sometimes you’re reading and a single word resonates. For me, it was this piece in the NY Times that chronicled how three galleries in the 60s and 70s led the way in showing the work of black artists. Here it is:
Castelli became shorthand for the rapidly growing commercial market of contemporary art, but not 20 blocks away was an entirely different world, one that was largely ignored by the traditional power brokers; The Times, for instance, did not review any JAM gallery shows. The artists who got their starts here — [Linda Goode] Bryant would also give Dawoud Bey, Lorraine O’Grady, Howardena Pindell and Fred Wilson their first shows before closing her space in 1986 — are now canonical.
As defined by Merriam-Webster, the canon is:
- a sanctioned or accepted group or body of related works; or, similarly
- a criterion or standard of judgment
The canon frames culture and sets the standard. It means you can’t talk about an area–in this case visual art–and not mention, reference or acknowledge these artists and their contributions.
Of course, we’re not all going to incredible visual artists like the ones mentioned above. So the challenge for each of us is to figure out where we can make the most impact, do the most good, and hope people look back to see our work as worth remembering.
In the meantime, though, let’s all shoot for canonical.
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