Kicking off the five evenings of panels, speeches, and readings on February 23 was Time art critic Robert Hughes, who set a provocative tone by describing himself as an unrepentant elitist. The author of The Culture of Complaint, in fact, called not for an end to elitism, but for an infusion of it into art criticism, which, he said, has become diminished by identity politics. Shana Harvey '99 and Adam Arian '99 performed a snippet of Sweeney Todd on the first night of the Arts in America conference. Hughes suggested to the overflow audience in the Salomon Center that the constraints of identity politics reach far beyond the field of art criticism. Artists whose work is unrecognized attribute it to racism and sexism, but not all artists are wrongly ignored.
Most art made by whites is mediocre.
Under the rubric of self-esteem, we are supporting ethnicity and difference rather than looking for true excellence. It requires no proof. Both sides use it, but it is an unexamined term. It's your duty to explain why. Now they wanted some art.