My contribution to the book Decentre: concerning artist-run culture/a propos de centres d’artistes published by YYZ Books, and which launches tonight in Toronto.

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Artist-run centres developed to exhibit what at the time was unmarketable, and in so doing became the elitist arbiters of a contemporary taste, based on a reputation for taking risks and initial support of those who went on to become the academics and international art stars (and therefore the default judges of what constitutes good art). Undoubtedly without their presence we’d be culturally poorer, yet today they have become part of an economic system of which they’re in denial.

Because artists have always depended on the patronage of the rich, the artist-run centres have become essential within the overall art system, arguably the only “dealer” that really matters to patrons. To have any sense of artistic legitimacy in Canada – the type that gets you bought by institutions – one needs to somehow be affiliated with an artist-run centre.

Today’s art institution will buy based on a trendiness they equate with aesthetic and cultural merit, and their purchase perpetuates the artist’s delusion that they matter in some grander context, even while their piece lies in a crate in storage. Had they sold to a private patron, they could at least watch as this person re-sells their work to another rich person or to an institution looking for a piece of trendy action on someone once overlooked. The seller does this to a potentially large profit, a share of which the artist won’t see.

Because artist-run centres are staffed by a relatively small network of professionals, they’ve unfortunately become nests of nepotism. How many young artists new to the system send off packages bi-annually only to watch the exhibition calendar fill up with ”curated” shows featuring artists who are friends with staff and board members? This is exacerbated by allegiances to obsolete ideas and aesthetic ideologies which result in shows of boring work weakly justified with poorly written brochure essays.

The fortunate thing is that every five years an artist-run-centre is populated by a new generation of staff, exhibiting artists, and board members. This makes them highly adaptable to changing cultural conditions, and perpetually reformable.