Has the curator replaced the artist as rebel?

I posted the long article about Robert DeNiro, Sr., yesterday, in an attempt to reinvigorate the discussion around the artist as a force of life rather than just a machine-like craftsman. While even I am guilty of factory-like production numbers in my own painting; I believe that I utilize nearly every opportunity to randomize my life in a manner that forces the art work to evolve via the continuous introduction of radical change.

I ran across this year-old article at CNN.com:

Wednesday, March 29, 2006
LONDON, England (CNN) -- With a fiery, alcohol-fueled temper and a dynamic splatter-gun technique, Jackson Pollock was one of many painters and sculptors who, from the 1950s to the 70s, embodied the classic role of the rebel artist.

Perhaps in an indication of the rising status of the curator, a feature about America's groundbreaking Whitney Museum in a recent edition of the New Yorker magazine focused not on the artists or works displayed in the gallery, but on the driving force of its director Adam Weinberg.

Thus, in the same way that old fashioned rock stars have been eclipsed by DJs creating music from mixes and samples, these newly empowered curators have finally helped lay the rebel artist to rest.

Click here to read the piece in its entirety. Unfortunately, the author seems to be primarily interested in land artists such as Christo and I question whether he believes these are the only artists worthy of the term contemporary. – DN