According to Huffington Post: Vanity Fair recently released a very compact compendium of the greatest living artists – all six of them. The chosen ones, selected by Vanity Fair‘s opinion crew of “top artists, academics, and curators,” are…
1. Gerhard Richter
A woman walks in front of Gerhard Richter's painting 'Strip' (930-2), 2013, during the press preview of the exhibition 'Gerhard Richter. Strips and Glass' by the Gallerie Neue Meister (New Master Gallery) of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden at the Albertinum in Dresden, Germany, Friday, Sept. 13, 2013. The exhibition comprises new works from Richter's current series of strip pictures and glass objects, most of which were created specifically for this show. Richter is regarded as the top-selling living artist. The exhibition starts on Sept. 14, 2013 and last until Jan. 5, 2014. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)
2. Jasper Johns
Jasper Johns/ Getty Images USA, New York, Flag, 1955
3. Richard Serra
A Visitor to the press preview of "Richard Serra Sculpture: Forty Years" at the Museum of Modern Art walks through "Band" Tuesday, May 29, 2007 in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
4. Bruce Nauman
Bruce Nauman/Image: AP Natalie Nollert/dapd
5. Cindy Sherman
Cindy Sherman, Untitled #132, 1984 /Image: Metro Pictures
6. Ellsworth Kelly
Paintings by artist Ellsworth Kelly are seen during an exhibition preview on June 19, 2013 at The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC. Image: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)
According to Huffington Post: A very talented, very white, selection, if we may say so ourselves…
As Mark Stevens explained, “The intent was not to identify once and for all the six most important living artists. No one can know that. The point was to picture contemporary taste and capture the reflection off the sheen of the period.”
It’s almost an impossible challenge to be sure, naming the best artists out there in one handy listicle. It’s hard not to admire Mark Di Suvero’s response to the poll: “I don’t believe in ranking artists, art is for life.”
But then again, we’re not exactly averse to the idea of lists. We would just like to see a compressed art world representation that wasn’t so heavily slanted toward the elder white man. That’s why we’re enlisting your help.
Huffington Post has compiled its own short list of contenders for the coveted six slots of “Today’s Greatest Living Artists.” Take a peek and vote for your favorites — it will be interesting to see if a more democratic voter pool (V.F.’s was admittedly “older, American, and mainstream”) will yield more democratic results.
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