Kenny Schachter on Taking the Art World to Task

Kenny Schachter has an insatiable appetite for all things art. The polymathic art dealer, curator, teacher, writer, critic, collector, and self-taught artist brings a Tasmanian Devil–level energy to all that he does, but always with great, arms-open passion and, even within his whirlwind of ideas and projects, deep focus. For good reason, he has become a sort of enfant terrible in the art world, someone who’s not afraid to speak his mind, and who doesn’t care about ruffling feathers or messing with the establishment. He pushes against the status quo, and happily so. Schachter is a believer in high culture as much as low, and brings little pretension to his craft, no matter the medium, even if considerable rigor underlies it. Often, he’s decidedly coy.

Schachter’s love of art is bona fide and lifelong. Not only did art prove a helpful outlet for him during a difficult childhood, but it has also blossomed into a way of growing closer to his family (particularly with his children, with whom he has mounted a series of inventive exhibitions). Schachter especially appreciates art for its ability to help him depict the time he’s living in. For him, art also serves as a form of cultural and personal commentary and as a mode of humor, often the self-deprecating variety. Schachter has become something of an NFT oracle, too, and will present his latest efforts in this space at next month’s Independent Art Fair (May 5–8) in New York, with Greece’s Allouche Benias gallery.

On this episode, Schachter talks with Andrew about art as a form of sense-making, the benefits of being an outsider, and why he employs humor in so much of his work.

Special thanks to our Season 5 sponsor, L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts.

Show notes:

• Full transcript
• @kennyschachter
• [07:56] Schachter’s column for Artnet
• [09:46] Schachter’s shrugging emoji
• [28:42] “The Hoarder” series of Sotheby’s sales
• [29:46] “Kenny Schachter: Retrospective” (2018)
• [42:15] “Friends & Family” (2012)
• [57:46] “The Artist Is Online” (2021)
• [57:57] “Kenny Schachter: Metadada” (2022)
• [01:01:46] “Forbidden Amuse Yourself Piggy Bank” (2018)
• [01:23:06] “The Art World’s Mini-Madoff and Me”