If 20-something Ms. Merritt had been a 40-something Mr. Merritt, she would have been just another second-rate unknown pseudo-artistic exhibitionist pornographer. However, since she's young and fairly attractive, she has all the necessary attributes to be a celebrity rather than a sleaze.(posted 8737 days ago)My point is that that is the norm today. Your work - no matter how good or carefully directed - is secondary. It helps a lot if the work is controversial or outrageous. It helps more if you are. But to make it to the pinnacle (rather than just be labeled as a clown), you really need a patron (as Eric Kroll is to Merritt, as Warhol was to Lachappelle, etc.) - someone who has the contacts to get you into the right circles - whatever their reasons for doing so. (In more traditional times and venues, it's the art critic who wields that power.)
So, Robert, please forward a list of the people I'll need to sleep with so I can get started!