I went to briefly see Other Certainties, curated by Summer Guthery and Amy Owen at NYCAMS, Friday night - felt really disconnected from the crowd, there wasn’t any wine being served and I decided 5 minutes was enough.

My basic issue with a lot of what I see in contemporary art - is “who cares”?  “Why is this relevent”? and “Do I want to spend any of my precious time to figure it out”?

My feeling, and this is a problem for Painting, perhaps more than other art forms, that the deep probing analysis that lends it self to visual art, that a painting reveals itself gradually, over time, is at a distinct disadvantage in an age where your attention, your time, is the the most important thing you have.

I attended OMMA Global this week in New York and found a panel I listened to interesting, if not for the paradox it presented -OMMA day 2 - Marketer’s Dilemma: finding and managing digital resources where I noted that:

Here’s the paradoxical issue, but it was not voiced, that all brands want “undivided” attention, while people are now “multi-tasking” and doing a few things at once.

Painting demands undivided attention - but are we ready to give it anymore?  Can we?  Do we have a right to ask for undivided attention as artists when everyone is being hit with more and more messaging, which gets better are more subtle, all the time?

I think, the answer is no.   Most of the time, the only attention a work can get is shock value - and that wears off.   I think the point is if something is “arresting” and worthy of enough people’s attention, they will want to focus in and pay attention to it.

But everything I saw at the Other Certainties opening wasn’t worthy of my attention - and just because someone creates a work of art, doesn’t mean that we are obliged to view it.

By the way, there’s a Van Gogh exhibition at MOMA that is worth seeing - and I’ll make it over sometime during the next month.

It wasn’t even clear they were considered good work at the time.