Artlog

Cease to Assist

The apprentice/master relationship is a long established tradition in the art world, and it is not unknown that artists often employ assistants in the production of their work. Employing studio assistants has been considered practical and in many instances necessary for artists throughout the centuries. Is there still a sense of mentoring present in the studio hierarchy for today’s contemporary artists? Has mentoring become obsolete in studios and training left for BFA and MFA programs?

Historically, studio assistants were needed in order to complete demands for commissions that could not promptly be created entirely by the master. Take for example Leonardo da Vinci, an art historical “all star.” Da Vinci himself was an assistant for Andrea del Verrocchio. While helping Verrocchio complete commissioned works, da Vinci was able to develop his own style, a basis for his eventual mastery of drawing and painting. “Verrocchio’s studio no doubt encouraged thorough knowledge of perspective, anatomy, even botany. With Leonardo scientific and biological interests were eventually to swamp his interest in painting.”^[1] Verrocchio’s influence on Leonardo allowed for positive exposure without stifling his own career.

Some contemporary artists take the same approach. Jeff Koons employs 80 some-odd studio assistants. Are any of these studio assistants receiving training comparable to the studio of Verrocchio? The specificity of Koons’ art makes it far less likely that the artists he employs are developing skills easily transferable to their own art. Rather, the benefits for today’s assistants come in the form of monetary remuneration and business experience. Many of the assistants already have several years of technical training and simply need a reliable source of income. The mentoring aspect of studio assistants has become relatively obsolete as their tasks given to them reflect the technicality of production rather than evolvement of an artistic idea.

Since the scope of art, and what is considered art, has broadened it makes sense that the process of fostering of early career artists would have evolved concurrently. Are artists who employ assistants acting as power mongers, or are they just doing their jobs more efficiently? As the inception of ready-made and found art freed the artist of the necessity of hand-made artistry, it should come as no surprise that mass produced art makes up a majority of contemporary art’s aesthetic.^[2] Seeing as today’s society is awash with celebrity fanaticism, it makes sense that the art of our culture should reflect this. Art has always been directed and influenced by prominent patrons. In the past, royalty and religious institutions were the largest sponsors for artistic commissions; today the powerful elite include billionaire businessmen and art dealers who drive the art market.

By creating a persona, artists such as Koons, Murakami, and Keith Tyson don’t need to physically make the art they sign their name to. In all actuality, their celebrity status is fortified by their distance from the tediousness of creation. If we take today’s culture and assert that at least the art world is doing as it has always done (reflecting and documenting the culture from which it was produced) then this question of whole moral code of creation vs. creativity becomes null and void.

Marisa Sage, owner of Like the Spice Gallery in Williamsburg, has been grappling with many of these issues discussed and consequently decided to do an exhibition of the work of artists who are studio assistants. The show “Off the Clock” will run January 9 – February 8, 2009 and includes assistants for many top contemporary artists, including Kehinde Wiley, Marilyn Minter, and Kikki Smith. Sage wishes to simultaneously address the relationship between artists’ assistants and the artist, while providing a forum for these artist assistants to present their own art. Sage wonders about the “level of accountability that is lost with the use of studio assistants [and the] level of disconnect.” The anonymity that surrounds the artists’ assistant is intriguing. Visual art seems to be unique in its lack of standard for crediting; some artists are very thorough when acknowledging assistants while others purposefully do not discuss the subject.

The decision about how to best recognize or embody the contributions of these anonymous artists rests squarely on the shoulders of the artist who employs them. The fact remains that artist assistants, no matter their personal goals, are necessarily artists themselves. They choose the art studio to make a living and are working in different capacities within a space that holds limitless potential for growth and change. Their contributions are as varied as the tasks that are required of them – what differs most significantly is how their contributions are acknowledged.