http://c-monster.net/blog1/2011/03/24/the-big-salchicha/comment-page-1/#comment-483082

WHAT I find interesting about both lists attempting to define “greatest work of art since World War II” is that the US artists of any note all date from the 80s backwards in time. This reflects the fact that the US has NOT been producing – or should I say, not nurturing – great and important artists that are making their mark on the world scene.   Here in the UK we have a lot of big shows but very rarely any new-ish US artists.  Saatchi did do a show of US painting but his tastes are idiosyncratic and not worth judging current US practices by.

I find it strange and somehow unsettling that I have so rarely seen any show by a recent/emergent US artist here in Europe. I might like to curate such a show, but the UK’s draconian visa regime means I just can’t afford to invite anyone here to our small STUDIO 75 space.
My question is, is the relative invisibility of American visual arts in the world art scene an indication of, or a symbiotic corres;pondent of, the decline in American importance on the world political stage?

I love American art, and I like American as a general rule (ok, not the tea partying ones, but there aren’t so many of those!) as a pretty inspiring and forward thinking bunch, and so I hope I can be proven wrong some time soon. I do feel though, that the Anglo-American obsession with ‘economics’ in its narrowest sense,  and the refusal to see the arts as a core part of a healthy economy, does mean that post-Reagan, the arts in the US have not been nurtured and showcased. This is not helping anyone least of all the US’s public profile.