The world of contemporary art is riddled with contradictions. The most vocal artists loudly champion identity politics and social justice; meanwhile, the global art business is increasingly dominated by elite mega-galleries, powerful auction houses, and hyper-rich collectors. Caught between these two camps are museums and universities. In the midst of all this, AI threatens to alter the very nature of art and human thought.

This virtual Pennoni Panels installment—to be recorded and produced as a later episode of the PBS-broadcast series "The Civil Discourse"—brings together an artist (interdisciplinary, multimedia creator Kelly Wang), a curator (the New Museum's Gary Carrion-Murayari), a critic and scholar (Richard Vine, former Senior Editor of "Art in America"), and a dealer (Leo Rogath, proprietor of New York City's Prince & Wooster gallery) to debate whether these tensions enrich the contemporary art world or augur its doom.