The fact that an exhibit can have integrity, can be a source of critical assessment of the human condition testifies to the fact that the art system lives and runs on contradiction. There have to be good curators and good projects out there. Otherwise the system wouldn't work as well as it does. As to abstraction, I think we have to treat abstraction concretely and look at the particular. Capital takes the function of abstraction and generalizes it into exchange.
Nothing is sacred, everything is grist for the profit mill.
I recently saw the stone mosaics of Mitla near Oaxaca which show the human capacity to see abstract form in the midst of a concrete sensuous environment. It is a human product that abstracts from the land. The work of Richard Serra can resonate within the industrial urban landscape with a similar tension and clarity. Because Serra is a high priced commodity in the art market does not per se negate his work. The stone columns of Mitla are pure Richard Serra.