For many, how artwork is labelled is immensely important as such details provide contex for the piece. Apart from the work’s title, information such as the name and background of the artist and their work, date and medium help a viewer understand a work better. This is particularly true for contemporary art that can often be hard to decipher.
Others consider the labelling of an artwork as irrelevant and distracting. As The National reports today, one gallerist at last week’s Art Dubai said it chose not to label the works it displayed as “we find they tend to interfere with the art”.
It’s understandable, to a point, if they didn’t want to clog up precious wall space with gratuitous labels. Nevertheless, leaving a viewer in the dark about the back story of a particular work hardly seems like a satisfactory solution either. Another way to address this dilemma might be to deliver the information through alternative media, such as an app or audio commentary.
