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Contemporary art, believe it or not, is hot. When comedian Stephen Colbert “begs” British graffiti artist Banksy not to make the walls of his studio’s building the next target in his Better Out Than In series (aka, “Banksy Takes Manhattan”) and instantly send property values skyrocketing, you know that contemporary art’s hit the mainstream. But is this popularity a good thing? In a preview of the London Frieze Art Fair, The Financial Times’ Peter Aspden weighs the pluses and minuses of contemporary art’s current status. Admittedly, the popularity of and financial investment in contemporary art beats the alternative, but, as Aspden points out, “it’s hard to deny that in its quest for instant accessibility, contemporary art has lost something of the sense of purpose that it enjoyed when it was genuinely pushing at the boundaries of moral and social consensus.” Aspen believes that the public more willingly swallows contemporary art because “it is so easily consumed and digested.” Should the contemporary art world be choking on its own success? Can contemporary art become too popular? Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "Can Contemporary Art Become Too Popular?"

[Image: Banksy. This Is My New York Accent ... Normally I Write Like This, 2013. Part of the Better Out Than In series. Located at 508 West 25th Street, Westside, New York City, NY.]
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Andy Warhol had his Campbell's Soup Cans and Roy Lichtenstein had his comic book panels, but what will be the Pop art meme of today? One possible candidate is the ubiquitous QR code, the “quick response” code of black and white symbols once reserved for industrial purposes but now found in advertising and packaging seemingly everywhere (probably unnecessary example shown above). As reported by An Xiao on Hyperallergic.com, QR code art has made its way into the galleries—the first step towards making its way into the marketplace and, perhaps someday, the museums. Is this two-dimensional barcode the future symbol of our era? Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "Can QR Codes Be the Next Pop Art Meme?"

With all apologies to the memory of Theodor Geisel, it’s not the Grinch stealing Christmas this year—it’s Banksy! In Cardinal Sin (above), Banksy takes a replica of an 18^th century stone bust of a forgotten Catholic clergyman and defaces it by “de-facing” it and replacing the visage with a series of tiles. Timing the revelation for just before Christmas and choosing to “indefinitely” loan the piece to Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery, Banksy steals all the warm, fuzzy feelings of the holiday and forces us to face the chilling reality of the Catholic Church’s worldwide sex abuse scandal. Is this a valid religious-political statement or shameless self promotion—Banksy being Banksy even if it means ruining Christmas. You’re a mean one, Mr. B. Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "How Banksy Stole Christmas."

For most people, there’s little difference between graffiti and street art. To those within that circle, however, there’s a whole world of difference—even enough to drive them to destroy the art of others. Part of that difference comes from the continued rejection of graffiti as a criminal act, whereas street art quickly rose up from the streets into the galleries, where it has become the hot, new genre eagerly bought up by younger collectors. The resentments generated by that difference can be easily encapsulated in the all-out war going on between King Robbo, “king” of the British graffiti artists, and Banksy, the darling of the gallery-gone street artists. What was once posturing (and even alleged slapping) has escalated to destruction of the art itself. Can anything stop this self-destructive feud in which the work itself hangs in the balance? Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "Why Are Graffiti and Street Art Destroying One Another?"