My mother always told me, “It’s a man’s world.” I vividly remember her saying that to me when I was crying in my bedroom after my boyfriend stood me up. Mom consoled me with those words, while patting my head and wiping away my tears. She also told me that no man is ever worth crying over.

That seems to be contradictory. It’s a man’s world, so quit your crying. That’s the way it’s always going to be, so move on, get over it. I’ve never forgotten that. 

Did I continue to cry over many a boyfriend? Yes. Did I get over it? Yes. Am I going to accept it’s a man’s world? Hell, no.

And neither is Micol Hebron, this issue’s cover artist. Hebron has started a project here in LA, and she’s gotten the attention of many artists and galleries. Currently, she and numerous collaborators have narrowed it down: Men, 70% representation in LA galleries; Women, 30%. That’s pretty skewed, considering there’s no shortage of excellent women artists. Our contributor Carol Cheh interviews Hebron and you can read the rest of the sordid details in these pages.

That got me thinking about a lot of things that are unfair in the art world (Mom also told me life is not fair). The art world is starting to look like a frenzied industry spinning out of control. Desperate players grabbing at any ol’ Warhol, Hirst or Koons on the auction block. Name your price, they gotta have it. And now celebrities are entering the art market like never before, adding all that splash and dash to the ever-so-chic art world. 

It’s big business, for sure. As Hebron notes in this issue, the art world reflects the capitalist society around it, with its own slim margin at the top, the one-percenter collectors buying blue-chip work by 1% of the artists from the one-percenter dealers. 

Does the art world, as we know it, exist only in the upper echelon, the 1% of the art world? Or is that the only part of the world that gets attention? Yes, and yes. Media and celebrity go hand in hand. When rapper Jay-Z christened the art world as hip (hop) with his song and video, suddenly kids were talking about Picasso and Basquiat (for 15 minutes). Art is entering the mainstream now, but through the velvet ropes, leaving the hoi polloi behind. 

Just think about it. The art world has always been an elite underground society, but elite as in more exclusive and underground as in more unique. Money never had as much influence in the art world as it does today. Naturally, that has an impact. 

That leaves me with another thought: What about the other 99% of artists, galleries and collectors that don’t have millions to spend on art? There’s a big art world out there, with artists and galleries that struggle but hang in there because they believe in what they are doing. Artists won’t stop making art because they haven’t made it to the top. 

I’m more concerned and interested in the 99-percenters. They are the real deal. They are experimenting and questioning things, like artists are supposed to do—like Micol Hebron. She questions the integrity of the art world. She puts herself out there and she’s not afraid to speak out. And neither is Artillery. You probably will never see us put Jeff Koons on our cover. Why would we? What boundary is Koons pushing today? 

I hope you agree with me that there’s a lot of great art being made out there by men and by women. And I guarantee you will see it in these pages—the new, the different, the experimental. But we won’t be featuring the one-percenters. Which reminds me of another thing my mother used to say, “It’s lonely at the top.”