We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Michael Certo a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Michael, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?

I believe the role of the artist has largely been misunderstood in America. Personally, I was never too interested in art as a commodity, but rather as a process, a creative and intellectual pursuit. The “Ivory Tower” paradigm taught in art schools still pushes the idea that the quality of your art will ensure commercial success. Any mature visual artist will tell you that material success from visual art has more to do with business acumen, marketing, and connections with dealers and art collectors. I learned a long time ago that I would need to work a second or third job in order to continue my creative process.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I went to UC Santa Barbara back in the mid-Eighties as a Regent Scholar, and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Studio Art. I decided to get out of the rat race and move to New Mexico where I could rent large studios and the cost of living was about 1/10th of coastal living. I did many jobs to support my visual art career: waiter, motorcycle mechanic, parking lot attendant, construction worker, substitute teacher and even museum curator. After about one year, I moved from Taos, New Mexico down to Albuquerque and started a DIY art space in a bombed-out warehouse downtown in 1995. It was a non-profit endeavor and focused on exhibiting art that was more experimental and hence less sellable. I curated over 250 exhibitions and worked with over 500 artists over the span of 30 years at the Albuquerque Contemporary Art Center, known as [AC]2. Many fringe artists in the region got their start at [AC]2 and ventured out to other states or abroad. Looking back at all the great shows I had the honor of hosting, I am proud that I was able to showcase so many talented artists and maintain the gallery without exploiting other artists or relying on outside sponsorship.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I have always thought education was key in the exhibition of contemporary art. In my 30 years of working within a gallery or museum, I have often seen the general public (non-creatives) intimidated and confused by the art on display. The more abstract, cerebral, and less recognizable art is often dismissed as either “child-like” or on the other end of the spectrum as pretentious. I believe it is this social fear of not being able to experience art intelligently that causes this dismissive response.
Children often have more direct and deep interactions with art because they lack the self-consciousness of adults. I think if non-creatives approached art in the same way people interact with nature, with curiosity and acceptance, the process of art making might be better understood and more respected.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

American society could learn a lot from other cultures around the world when it comes to the importance of art and artists in our society. Artists have an integral role in contemporary culture and are necessary figures in the unbroken legacy of human creativity in history. Every creative that continues their process against the crushing weight of banal existence and empty consumerism is a hero and a revolutionary. Whether anyone else notices or not.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ac2gallery.org
• Instagram: @ac2gallery
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ac2gallery/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-certo-4705498/
• Twitter: nope

Image Credits

Image credits: Michael Certo