OK. So I didn’t actually have dinner with him, he sat at a table behind me; but, I recognized that unmistakable close cropped gray buzz cut. We were back to back in the restaurant. As the meal progressed and in proportion to my imbibing, I began to listen more and more closely to the unfolding conversations of my next door neighbor. So much so, that I was repeatedly admonished by my wife due to the fact that she was leery that Gogo’s girlfriend was catching on to my ruse. “Stop staring while you listen. You are being really obvious by craning your neck like that. She’s listening to everything you say” Self-restraint, not my strong point to begin with, was becoming harder as the quality and quantity of the information became richer and juicier. I couldn’t help myself–I asked the waiter for pen and paper. Cauliflower ears were not disappointed.
Where to begin? “Who are the 10 most important 20th Century artists?” someone at their table queried. The reply from the all powerful purveyor of what’s hot: for starters, “not Rauschenberg.” Regarding the position of Picasso; the ever market-conscious, I mean student of art history Gogo, regretfully stated: “I hate to admit it, but he would have to be included on the list. Another choice, surely non-influenced by the fact that he has bought many of them at auction for clients–Jasper Johns. For those not versed in the hermetic semantics of artworld lingo, be patient, bear with me, and try to decipher the following comment: “Pollack, he’s by far the best, blows away all the others”. Derrida, Foucault, Lacan and Gogasian. Oh, and of course, the pillar of the avant-garde, not to mention, new member of the gallery stable, Annette Messenger; unanimously on every one’s list of the most influential artists approaching the millennium. “Stop staring while you are listening”, Ilona nudged. Opps.
Now to the fun part, expressing himself in the negative, as to those who are unfairly lauded by the art world, undeservedly so. Eyebrows ready to raise? Ever the contrarian, Gagosian fearlessly bucked the recent auction trends that established pregnant prices shattering records for the likes of Rachel Whiteread, Kiki Smith, Robert Gober and Matthew Barney. His first opinion will find detractors and supporters on both sides of the fence: “Rachel Whiteread is the most overrated artist of our time”. Next up: “Gober is not important”. Ouch. “His girlfriend keeps looking at you and listening to everything you say”, I was admonished. The (model) girlfriend clearly did not have much to add to the fray. Matthew Barney: “I don’t understand her strategy (his dealer Barbara Gladstone), I wish he would make more objects”. Evincing a hands-off, artist sensitive take on the creative process. Another note on Gladstone: “I think she’s sneaky”, obviously intended to color the view of the collector (Jay Chiat of advertising fame) seated amongst his guests. And the Starn Twins, the former cut and paste darlings of wise ol’ Castelli, “superfluous”.
Last but not least, some random musings on the pooh-pooh platter of comments served up to my hungry, enquiring mind by Gogo and his merry band of the “rich and famous” (their conception of themselves, not mine). On golf prodigy, Tiger Woods: “He should be in Caddie Shack Two” (I won’t even go there to figure that one out). Texas: “like one big Chelsea”. Closing comments: “I love that feeling of power from getting air-lifted by helicopter” which we, too, are all so familiar with. And finally, that rush and joy had from purchasing major appliances, says Gogo: “I love appliances”. Thank you and good night.