If you’ve ever visited the Mary Boone Gallery and longed to scream “Emperor’s new clothes!” but never dared, then keep an eye out for a new project called Artsurvey, which brings corporate brand-testing techniques to bear on the city’s often overhyped art scene. Visit the Website (artsurvey.net) or fill out a postcard to rate 44 artists according to categories such as Brilliant, Sexy, and Never Heard Of. Jennifer Dalton and Phillip Buehler hope to present their findings in a gallery in the spring using graphs and charts explaining each brand’s relative market health. But just what does it say about the health of the Matthew Barney brand that he’s leading the Sexy, Incomprehensible, and Overrated categories?

Survey Says:
Sexy Matthew Barney; Elizabeth Peyton (“This is a great idea, but I kind of wish I was heading the ‘brilliant’ or ‘inspiring’ category,” Peyton told us).

Brilliant Andy Warhol; Bruce Nauman.

Overrated Matthew Barney; Damien Hirst/Julian Schnabel (tie).

Pretentious Damien Hirst; Jeff Koons/Julian Schnabel (tie).

Incomprehensible Matthew Barney (by a landslide); Bruce Nauman.

Never Heard Of Gregory Crewdson; Cai Guo-Qiang (wait, doesn’t anyone remember last month’s rained-out Central Park fireworks?).

Related:

• Archive: “Intelligencer Features”
• Articles by Sean Kennedy
• Table of Contents: October 27, 2003 issue of New York | Subscribe!