Crowdsourcing the arts and a misunderstood artist is seen in a new light
This weekend I attended a gallery opening of an exhibition called ‘50 Americans’ featuring the work of Robert Mapplethorpe. Usually I have to spend the first few minutes or an Art exhibition reading the background to understand the story that the gallery is telling through the art. This one was different. Rather then view the Mapplethorpe images through the lens of an expert Sean Kelly’s people found 50 Americans, one per state, to curate the selection. They were nervous about what selections the wisdom of the crowd would choose to surface. Some people involved with the Mapplethorpe foundation were initially skeptical of the project. ...