Dave Hickey is my hero! Upon first introduction to his work earlier this semester I thought I just admired the man’s literary style but, as we progress further into readings I’m beginning to see the reasons beneath my draw to his writing. I admire the man – period. You see, in order to effectively write about ones place in the world (especially one as fickle as the world of art) the writer must be willing to put it all out there...the good, the bad…everything. This balance of good and evil is crucial for the piece to come off as unbiased and is essential to gain the trust of the reader. In addition to that, the writer must, obviously, possess an in-depth knowledge of the topic their writing about (in this case it would be that of art dealership). To be capable of going against an ostentatious grain, revealing its complex underbelly while exposing personal vulnerabilities and pull it off with finesse is no small feat. It takes talent and it takes guts to “keep it real” in a dimension where “keeping it real” is not an option.
Hickey, however, is different. Sure, he started his journey with the goal of playing the game by the rules of formal education but, eventually realized that the paradox of fucking up in that world could potentially mean that things could be looking up in his. In the wake swallowing this jagged pill of sorts, he essentially deviates from a socially acceptable progression of career development and owns up to it. I consider that a selfless act of courage. After all, how often does the average person admit to turning their backs on esteemed scholarly endeavors to open a Mom and Pop store with their wife…probably not many without the aid of embellishment to soften the blow to their pride?
Even while detailing the inner workings of dealing art he manages to bring the narrative back down to earth because, well, that’s where most of us live. Recognizing that in order to bring art to the people it’s probably best to make it accessible to them and the only way to do that is by tearing down the wall of pretention that has kept it captive for so long. Yeah, Hickey’s my hero…it’s his homespun candor that resonates with me….without it he’d just be another art writer…and we don’t any more of those.
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