It is the art itself which distant itself from the masses. In a world where everything is measured against monetary value, art has no place in the masses.
1. The middle class downwards are busy trying to make ends meet, there is simply no time for any kind of art.
2. Artworks are being 'goreng' but people buy it. This projects an image that "if the artwork is being auctioned at high price, it is art; otherwise, it is trash."
So you see there is a gap here. Because only the 1% elites within a society have the money to afford, and time to appreciate art, so it is basically non-existent in the eyes of the 99% of the population.
And art being art, if it needs to earn respect, it has to boast originality, unique, fine execution, provocative messages, influential, or sometimes only because the artist died. Otherwise, it could just be the same as something coming out of a art factory like those in China.