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Summary
‘State of Art’ is a new HypeArt series inviting artists, curators, collectors and other leading voices to weigh in on the ideas, debates and cultural shifts shaping contemporary art. Through intimate questions and personal recommendations, the series offers a closer look at what is exciting the art world, what needs to change and where things may be heading next.
Kenny Schachter has never been easy to categorize, which is largely the point. Artist, writer, curator, lecturer and collector, he has spent more than three decades making work while chronicling, criticizing and occasionally antagonizing the art world around him. His writing has become particularly known for turning insider access into sharp, often self-deprecating commentary on the personalities, money and absurdities driving the contemporary art market.
For all the noise Schachter makes around the industry, however, his relationship to art itself remains remarkably earnest.Paul Thek is a case in point. Schachter’s fascination with the late American artist stretches back decades, from collecting his work and contributing to Paul Thek: Artist’s Artist to curating exhibitions dedicated to him, most recently alongside Jonathan Anderson at Thomas Dane Gallery in London in 2025.
It’s no surprise, then, that Thek resurfaces throughout Schachter’s answers for our latest State of Art discussion, including a small painting he first encountered in the 1990s and still hasn’t been able to shake. Schachter looks ahead to his own return to the gallery this fall, considers what it takes to keep making when the art world gets gritty and delivers some characteristically succinct advice for anyone spending too much time lamenting its current state: stop complaining and do more.
Read our full conversation below.
Summary
‘State of Art’ is a new HypeArt series inviting artists, curators, collectors and other leading voices to weigh in on the ideas, debates and cultural shifts shaping contemporary art. Through intimate questions and personal recommendations, the series offers a closer look at what is exciting the art world, what needs to change and where things may be heading next.
Kenny Schachter has never been easy to categorize, which is largely the point. Artist, writer, curator, lecturer and collector, he has spent more than three decades making work while chronicling, criticizing and occasionally antagonizing the art world around him. His writing has become particularly known for turning insider access into sharp, often self-deprecating commentary on the personalities, money and absurdities driving the contemporary art market.
For all the noise Schachter makes around the industry, however, his relationship to art itself remains remarkably earnest.Paul Thek is a case in point. Schachter’s fascination with the late American artist stretches back decades, from collecting his work and contributing to Paul Thek: Artist’s Artist to curating exhibitions dedicated to him, most recently alongside Jonathan Anderson at Thomas Dane Gallery in London in 2025.
It’s no surprise, then, that Thek resurfaces throughout Schachter’s answers for our latest State of Art discussion, including a small painting he first encountered in the 1990s and still hasn’t been able to shake. Schachter looks ahead to his own return to the gallery this fall, considers what it takes to keep making when the art world gets gritty and delivers some characteristically succinct advice for anyone spending too much time lamenting its current state: stop complaining and do more.
Read our full conversation below.
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