Art as a commodity or is it?

An interesting conversation with an artist friend has send my mind into yet another "art as a commodity or is it?" land. One of the main points of Post-modern thought is the obvious "art is not a commodity" and should not be guided by a price tag or any kind of monetary value. Many of us have been guided by this truth, which is quite freeing for an artist and does allow room for exploration of higher values within societal and an individual status. However, even if an artist is seeking his/her audience in the sphere of non-profit venues, he/she does stumble into certain materialistic barriers, nevertheless. That is due to the fact that even without seeking a monetary contribution, an artist is forced to participate in this world and all its mundane and bbureaucratic interactions. Thus, considering that one of artist's goals is to share his/her art with the public and, reflective of one of Marxist ideologies (or perhaps, one of his yet another "impossibilities") he/she is looking to do so without any monetary reimbursement, an artist still must pursue and convince curators, even those of non-profits, that his/her work is worthy of such endeavor. This in itself is a Herculean labor, because one has to fulfill and overcome both subjective and objective expectations, conformities, bureaucracies that encompass an idea of an artist and his/her art, as well as with specific and expected curriculum vita accomplishments. Thus, the vicious circle is complete. So, before the general public will get to see one's art, the work has to go through certain curatorial censorship, regardless of an artist's altruistic intentions.

Should we say then, that taking art for its intrinsic value is an impossibility in itself, which leads to yet another unfulfilled Post-modern idea. As we could see, the years of post-modernity have established a significant number of non-profit venues, which certainly points to the fact that we do value art more for its intrinsic value. The materialistic emphasis has not disappeared, however, but simply has shifted into a different direction.