Kenny Schachter
Kenny Schachter is a New York-born, London-based artist, curator, writer, and collector whose career spans over three decades at the forefront of contemporary art and culture. Unafraid to critique the very structures he operates within, Schachter’s work - both visual and written - delivers sharp, irreverent commentary on the inner workings of the art world, the market, and digital innovation. His multidisciplinary practice moves between painting, sculpture, NFTs, and institutional curation, often blending satire with personal narrative. Schachter has taught at institutions including Yale and the University of Zurich, written extensively for Artnet, and exhibited internationally, including a solo museum exhibit at Austria’s Francisco Carolinum. Through a career defined by disruption and experimentation, Schachter continues to question the systems of value and visibility that define art today.
YOUR CAREER SPANS ROLES AS AN ARTIST, CURATOR, COLLECTOR, AND WRITER. HOW DO THESE DISCIPLINES INTERSECT AND INFORM EACH OTHER IN YOUR PRACTICE?
As far as I am concerned, they are all in essence one and the same - art. Everything I encounter is a potential source of ideas, from art to the books, newspapers and the media I engage with. I don’t differentiate, really.
YOU’VE BEEN A VOCAL ADVOCATE FOR NFTS AND DIGITAL ART. HOW DO YOU SEE THE EVOLUTION OF DIGITAL ART IMPACTING THE TRADITIONAL ART MARKET?
Right now, it’s more a sign of trenchant demarcations in the zero-sum economic game that is the myopic art market. The trad art world generally recoils from innovation and change, fighting tooth and nail, kicking and screaming along the way.
IN YOUR WRITINGS, YOU’VE OFTEN CRITIQUED THE ART WORLD’S EXCLUSIVITY. WHAT CHANGES WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE TO MAKE THE ART WORLD MORE INCLUSIVE?
For people to be more generous with their time, more humanistic in spirit, and stop searching for a quid pro quo in everything interaction. Life needn’t be so transactional each and every moment.
YOUR RECENT EXHIBITION, “ART IN THE AGE OF ROBOTIC REPRODUCTION,” REFERENCES WALTER BENJAMIN’S SEMINAL ESSAY. HOW DOES THIS CONCEPT RELATE TO YOUR WORK AND THE CURRENT ART LANDSCAPE?
The conservativism in the art world knows no bounds. Benjamin was a prescient genius, but he was wrong to posit that film and photography rob art of its essence and aura or originality.
HAVING TAUGHT AT INSTITUTIONS LIKE YALE, NYU, AND THE UNIVERSITY OF ZURICH, HOW HAS YOUR ROLE AS AN EDUCATOR INFLUENCED YOUR PERSPECTIVE ON CONTEMPORARY ART?
I love to learn and I am boundlessly curious. Teaching feeds and inspires me.
YOUR “HOARDER” AUCTIONS HAVE GARNERED ATTENTION FOR THEIR ECLECTIC COLLECTIONS. WHAT DRIVES YOUR APPROACH TO COLLECTING, AND HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHAT TO INCLUDE IN THESE SALES?
I love art. To death. But I need to earn a living. It’s a constant negotiation as to what I am willing to let go of at any point in time. We can neither take it with us nor own anything; we can merely serve as custodians charged with a responsibility to preserve and protect art. And life.
YOU’VE BEEN DESCRIBED AS THE ART WORLD’S “ENFANT TERRIBLE.” HOW DO YOU VIEW THIS CHARACTERISATION, AND DOES IT ALIGN WITH YOUR SELF-PERCEPTION?
I am too old, way too old, for such a label. Besides, all I actually am is honest and forthright. That already distinguishes me from the majority of the art world. And I don’t fear making an ass of myself. Daily.
WITH YOUR EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO EMERGING ARTISTS NAVIGATING TODAY’S ART WORLD?
Perseverance, tenacity and doggedness. Don’t stop or take no for an answer, from anyone, ever. Me included.
HOW DO YOU BALANCE YOUR CRITICAL COMMENTARY ON THE ART MARKET WITH YOUR PARTICIPATION IN IT AS A DEALER AND COLLECTOR?
As long as you function with honesty and integrity, there are no conflicts. I am not a dealer by the way and can’t sell drugs to an addict.
I am way more active as an artist, writer and teacher more than anything else nowadays. And that suits me just fine.
LOOKING AHEAD, WHAT PROJECTS OR THEMES ARE YOU EXCITED TO EXPLORE IN YOUR WORK?
I am curating a Paul Thek show in London opening May 28th at Thomas Dane Gallery and I invited designer J.W. Anderson, who shares an interest in the artist, to install the exhibit with me. It’s up through early August. During my London sojourn, I am doing a performance/installation with 2 chickens at a friend’s place, opening May 25th, called Chicken Stingel. Don’t ask. The art world takes itself way too seriously. I don’t—though I am deadly serious about everything I do. July marks the opening of Hoarder 6, at Phillips this year (Sotheby’s is too mired in debt to assume logistical support and with no reserves on any lots, I can’t afford to). That’s July 8-17th and will be the last one for a long while. After that, it’s anyone’s guess what lies ahead. I don’t like the notion of planning and enjoy the ad hoc, flexibility of not knowing.