凡对政治抱有兴趣的当代艺术批评家,对于马克思主义大多会持赞同态度。大量的艺术批评卷入了对艺术家的作品和技巧是“进步的”还是“反动的”的讨论中去。绘画被看作在某种程度上表现了我们的时代精神,而批评家所寻求的,正是要搞清楚一幅画作究竟表达了什么。我以为,一个真正的马克思主义者的批评,会从不同角度观照艺术,会象我提供于斯的论述那样,把政治问题暂搁一边。美术品是我们文化中的商品,是画廊里高价出售的东西,我们有必要搞清它们是怎样被艺术家创作出来的,是怎样得到批评家的评估和被收藏家觅购了去的。这个艺术市场是怎样运行的呢?市场的结构又是如何影响我们对艺术本身所持 Contemporary art critics who are interested in politics will generally agree with Marxism. A great deal of art criticism is involved in the discussion of whether the artist’s work and skills are “progressive” or “reactionary.” Painting is seen as demonstrating to some extent our spirit of the times, and what critics seek is exactly what one painting expresses. I think that the criticism of a real Marxist will look at art from different angles and will temporarily put aside the political issue just as I provided for the discussion in Sri Lanka. Fine art is a commodity in our culture, something that is sold at a high price in galleries, and we need to understand how they were created by artists, how critics evaluate and what collectors buy. How does this art market work? How does the structure of the market affect us?