Monkdogz Artblog

Following the media attention of Susan Boyle especially in Britain where they are very good at building up and then knocking down anybody who dares to pop their head up, mole style, into the glare of their journalistic headlights, it makes you wonder what role they play in the success of person. 

Despite the fact that Susan Boyle lost to “Diversity” the exciting dance group of 3 sets of brothers, she will no doubt be able to cash in on her fame, albeit in a dimmer spotlight, but it will probably not be a bad outcome, considering the pressure that she’s been under and perhaps succumbed to.

Andy Warhol in 1968 said “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.”   It’s a now famous quote which may have backfired on him, with critics suggesting that he was just a famemonger and not a great artist.  Did fame contribute to his success?  Does his work command the millions of dollars because he was famous as a celebrity in his own right?  Would his work have stood the test of time without being attached to the media attention?  We will never know.

Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst are today’s celebrity artists. 

Jeff Koons went as far as hiring a media consultant and taking out adverts in international magazines, cultivating a successful persona.  His marriage to porn star Cicciolina (Ilona Staller) added to his notoriety added to his socializing with the rich and famous.  Legal cases surrounding their son after the divorce and copyright battles has meant that Koons remains in the news. 

Damien Hirst has courted fame and notoriety with his controversial art and public antics which have been well documented by the popular press. 

So does this celebrity status help or not?  Libby Purves a British journalist, radio broadcaster and author has been part of the UK celebrity culture for well over 3 decades.  Purves suggests that “moderate doses of applause and recognition are necessary to artists. They need both the sense of public communication, and the money.”  However she cautions the extreme; “overdoses of fame can be lethal: they often douse the creative spark and drive the artist into noisy self-parody and consequent self-hate.

It is worth noting that -all three artists above have had to use a “factory” of assistants, not unlike the renaissance studios in order to fulfill demand for their works. 

Interestingly and rather disparagingly Purves also says that “In a way, the new phenomenon of empty celebrity un-backed by original talent is less destructive: any amount of fame can’t do much harm to the oeuvre of Piers Morgan or Paris Hilton.

So what is success?  Is it financial wealth, is it critical acclaim, is it public applause, is it media attention, is it collector desire?  Perhaps only the passage of time will give us the real answer.