I just realized that people are mostly making only two kinds of art these days, and I believe both kinds are the consequence of living through pandemic times.

I am not talking about the art that is shown in museums, or by galleries and festivals (do festivals still exist?).

I am talking about the art that is being down in studios, bedrooms and living rooms. Art that maybe is not being done because people don’t have the space and materials they need, but that is being created in someone’s mind. I am talking about the art that my artist friends have told me they are thinking about and engaging with.

The first kind of art is the kind that wants to tackle the largest and most complex global problems. In this category there are art projects that have as their main theme inequality, racism, and other global problems, all declined in the largest possible sense. The subject at the center of these projects is often a generic ethical citizen.

The second kind of art is the kind that focuses on the self. In this category there are art projects that have as their main theme selfhood, sexuality, gender, identity, all declined in relation to the artist making the project. The subject at the center of these projects is always an artist working on themselves and trying to find themselves.

What is lost in between these two poles?

The art that I find most interesting is that in which the personal and the public intersect. In which global and local problems intersect. In which society and individuals are simultaneously addressed. It is an art of mediation between differentiation. Is there still room for a middle-ground? Is there still a balance between staring at our own navels or trying to save the Universe?