Pablo Echaurren's 'Adotta un artista' Blasts Art World as a Scam

Pablo Echaurren's pamphlet 'Adotta un artista' (Kellermann Editore, 2021) argues that the contemporary art system is a fraud, reducing artists to obedient functionaries. The 80-page book, with a postface by Gianfranco Sanguinetti, claims art is no longer the artist's product but the artist is a product of the system. Echaurren compares the art world's ideology to a new 'cultural colonialism' and 'aesthetic capitalism,' where exhibitions are mass spectacles and the system produces culture consumers. The pamphlet draws on Duchamp's view that museums are full of mediocrity. Sanguinetti asserts that 'the monotheism of the market has suppressed the polytheism of the imagination.' Echaurren distinguishes his critique from declaring art dead, arguing that art continues outside institutional frameworks. The book targets the 'narcissist-artist' of aesthetic capitalism, contrasting it with historical artist archetypes like the clown or buffoon. Contemporary artists are described as 'yuppie-mercenaries' obsessed with success and public relations. Echaurren aligns with Deleuze's idea that creation is an act of resistance, and the art system has replaced the doctrine of judgment. The pamphlet was published in Vittorio Veneto in 2021.