"Whose Afraid of Contemporary Art" 92ndY Talk with curator/art historian Kyung An

Friday's talk with Kyung An at the 92ndY was "Whose Afraid of Contemporary Art," which coincides with the title of her new book.  Kyung An is an art historian, former Tate curator and presently, a curator for the Guggenheim.  She co-authored the book with Jessica Cerasi, a colleague to answer questions they frequently encounter in an entertaining manner & to broaden an appreciation for contemporary art.  Many people are perplexed with contemporary art matters especially pertaining to installation art, the incorporation of technology, performance art and the high cost of contemporary artworks.  Ms An unabashedly promoted her book & illustrated its user friendly index.  She gave a condensed breakdown of the process of purchasing art by major museums which typically begins with the museums' curators presenting their suggestions for works or specific artists to the Board of a museum which gets filtered down or redirected & then these selections are presented to affiliated acquisition committees.   Ms An clarified she is not an art adviser for individuals regarding current artists or works of interest because this influences speculative purchasing; tantamount to insider information.  Ms An then provided us with several interesting examples of contemporary works and proposed questions for consideration when engaging with art:  What is the artist trying to say?  What materials are being used?  Utilize reference points:  when was it made and what was the social climate?  Where was the art made?  Why the artist made their choices? And, think about various interpretations, challenges & intent of the work.  Contemporary art challenges the notion of art being tangible and permanent.  She referred to the work by Piero Manzoni "Artists Shit;  supposedly his excrement in a can.  Manzoni did sell a series of these objects at significant monetary prices.  Ms An proposed thinking of works for their intrigue, vulgarity, social commentary & one's faith in the art.  She only spoke for 1/2 hour before opening the discussion to questions from the audience.  The first question was "Could you please explain what contemporary art is?"  Her arcane & thought provoking response was, "What is life? Art can be anything and you can go down the rabbit's hole with infinite opinions."