Saltz Sifts Through the Good, Bad & Ugly

Jerry Saltz, the art critic for New York magazine, told an online audience for the Salisbury Forum that the “art world is an all-volunteer army” and that there will be “a lot of new uniforms” available as pandemic restrictions are eased.

Saltz spoke online from his home in Manhattan at the Salisbury, Conn., Forum on Friday, April 23.

He covered a lot of ground in his breezy, informal remarks, briefly interrupted by a technical problem.

He said that from his youth in Chicago to his current status as art critic, he has always been around art in one way or another.

But it hasn’t been an easy journey. Saltz said that he tried to be an artist because he noticed that “the people who were having sex were in theater, music or art.”

But “then the demons started to speak to me.” 

Plagued by self-doubt, “I self-exiled from the art world.”

Now living in New York, lacking skills or education, and nursing the notion that “the world owed me a living,” he became a long-haul truck driver, driving rigs from New York to Texas or Florida and back.

Even then he couldn’t quite cut his ties with the art world. His cargo? Works of art.

He described this 10-year period as an unhappy, rage-filled time.

But he stayed connected to the art world, going to shows and galleries and spending time with other art people.

Saltz said to break into the art world, the first rule is to show up.

Then he corrected himself, saying the first rule is “work, work, work.”

He dismissed the idea of creative blocks. “There is only one solution for not working: Working.”

He also championed the habit of staying up late and sharing ideas about art “with your fellow vampires.”

Asked about online art sales, Saltz said “all the walls are down.”

“Anyone can rent a crappy little storefront now.”

As for the online world, Saltz said there are an increasing number of platforms for artists to get their work to the public.

However, he added, “I want to stand up for art in the flesh.”

Saltz said he likes to post pictures of art that catch his eye.

It doesn’t have to be good. He doesn’t even have to like it.

His criteria: that the work is “credible, that it captures the urgency of the moment.”

Asked if he would identify any up and coming artists, he demurred.

He said the art world has become much larger and more international in the digital age, and thus harder to keep up with.

He advised people to visit the small galleries of the Lower East Side in Manhattan.

“There’s a lot of good work,” he said. 

But “85% of it is crap.”

This is nothing new, he added. “Eighty-five percent of the art in the Renaissance was crap too. You just have to sort it out for yourself.”

The next speaker for the Salisbury Forum will be Steven Johnson on Wednesday, May 26, at 7:30 pm. Johnson is the author of New York Times bestsellers including “How We Got To Now,” “Unexpected Life” and “Where Good Ideas Come From.”