Now that Roberta Smith has had her moment kicking the New Museum / Koons / Joannou fuckfest can we finally put it to bed. The same should go for everyone who is up in arms over this whole fiasco, because lets face it, in a few months when some bright and shiny show opens and the world starts to talk about it, you will be there. Kissing its ass and air kissing the people you’ve been calling out for the last few months.

So lets just put this behind us and realize that it’s just more of the same. From both the museum and us.

I’m really sorry that Ms. Smith chose this week to comment on the New Museum show, it must have been a really slow news week as far as the art world is concerned. I understand there were only over 100 other once a year events happening within a 20 block radius of the New Museum.

Labels: Criticism, Museums, New York

Flesh and Blood, Iron and Steel. This lot is worth more - Joe Strummer

Bespoke: The Handbuilt Bicycle, will open May 12th at the Museum of Arts and Design. Displaying the work of six renowned bicycle builders whose work in metal are some of the high points of this individual craft. Organized by Michael Maharam and Sacha White this survey is presented as part of the MADProjects exhibition series, which explores emerging trends and innovations in the design world.

The twenty-one handbuilt bicycles are at the intersection of design, craft, and art, and include a range of contemporary designs: fixed-gear, road racing, cyclocross, mountain, and commuter bicycles, as well as the stripped-down randonneur, designed exclusively for long-distance racing. The exhibition features bicycles by: Mike Flanigan, Alternative Needs Transportation (A.N.T); Jeff Jones, Jeff Jones Custom Bicycles; Dario Pegoretti, Pegoretti Cicli; Richard Sachs, Richard Sachs Cycles; J. Peter Weigle, J. Peter Weigle Cycles; and Sacha White, Vanilla Bicycles.


Above: a Dario Pegoretti bicycle

Labels: bicycles, Museums, New York

February 6, 2010 from Noon to 5pm

The Museum of Modern Art
Cullman Education and Research Building
4 West 54th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues)

Free and open to the public/ Bring your art books and swap one-for-one with hundreds of donated art books.

Seriously? I get to trade books for other books? - see you there...

Labels: Art Books, Museums, New York

The NYT on Kenneth Noland's death

Joe Cameron on photo book value vs. photo book use (Please Note: A former Teacher of mine) While you are at that site - this is the best photo related blog post ever.

The Daily Batman (see above) is just too good not to share

I thought Lenny Kaye looked great at Robert Miller last Wednesday

Hot Gossip: Word on the street is Manfred Baumgartner is about to sign a lease for a small gallery space in a terrific location in D.C. (DC could use his return, his last gallery in DC was always amazing - I still remember his Joan Mitchell show)

Someone seems interested in the whole Deitch saga, see Green, Tyler (here, here, here, here, and here) - in all honesty, it's a pretty interesting story.

Photo of my show being installed (Below) - Drop by Thursday night in Chelsea if you can. (511 25th Street)

Labels: Comics, Los Angeles, Matthew Langley, Museums, New York, Washington DC

This is the first 4 minutes or so of Brice Marden in conversation with Harry Cooper (curator and Head of Modern and Contemporary Art, National Gallery of Art). The afternoon was an interesting approach of BM talking about some of his favorites in the collection as well as about a few of his works from the collection as well as the many amazing works from the Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Collection.

Please note: This video is not the greatest thing you've ever seen as I shot this with the camera on my lap - however it is an interesting bit of conversation.

Labels: Brice Marden, Matthew Langley, Museums, Painting, Washington DC

I did a quick video of the Leo Villareal installation, Multiverse (below). I love this Rachel Whiteread sculpture (above). You can probably tell why - but you'd be wrong. It's not because of the gridded nature of the work (although there is something to be said for that...) - it's about the artworks ability to describe space in something that we talk about but never physically define.

Labels: Museums, Sculpture, Washington DC

I'm too lazy to re-write this so it's straight from the NGA's web site:

Brice Marden, artist, in conversation with Harry Cooper, curator and head of the department of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art

The Diamonstein-Spielvogel Lecture Series provides a forum for distinguished artists to discuss the genesis and evolution of their work in their own words. Dr. Barbaralee Diamonstein–Spielvogel and the Honorable Carl Spielvogel generously endowed this series in 1997 to make such conversations available to the public.

Brice Marden on Art
November 22 at 2:00PM
East Building Concourse, Auditorium

Talk about lazy - bad spelling and the day was wrong... This has been corrected.

Labels: Brice Marden, Museums, Painting, Washington DC

Some people treat art exhibitions almost like a race, short sprints from piece to piece, giving each piece a 20-second appraisal before we run to the next one. Slow Art is an informal event that aims to expand an excitement towards art viewing. Open to everyone, Slow Art wants you to look at pieces for ten minutes to an hour to find new and illuminating ways of "seeing" art.

This is a great idea, I can't make it on Saturday - but if you can, do. Remember to register first...

Labels: Museums, New York

Today and tomorrow will be my last articles for the foreseeable future on Dia:Beacon. Not that I won't be writing about it reasonably soon - oh I will. It's just that things do keep moving and I need to respect that.

This will come as a big shock to anyone who has read this blog before. The Ryman rooms in my opinion are remarkable. The rooms are just amazing - super active and really quiet all at the same time, in a way very similar to what used to be called ambient music (the Fripp/Eno variety). They have a quiet power that would not surprise you, or anyone familiar with Ryman's work, but the surprises in the paint and especially the sensitivity of the application of the paint was just phenomenal - almost shocking in it's sensitivity.

For those of you who think white is just white - take a look at these rooms. Every (white) painting shows a different depth and tone that is just not an accident. These are not a painted with a bunch of Titanium White to make them "cohesive". They are clearly an expression that has taken it's time to reflect and absorb what they are doing among each other.

Labels: 70's, 80's, Museums, New York, Painting

I made my fist visit to Dia:Beacon on Sunday and I can tell you right now it won't be my last. I have enough notes and thoughts to write about this trip for the next couple of weeks, but will constrain myself to just the next few days.

I want to talk a little bit about Imi Knoebel's 24 Colors—for Blinky.

I've been interested in seeing this group of artworks since they were first installed in May of 2008.

24 Colors... as it is presented today is a new version from what was presented 30 years or so ago (not that I saw it then - this is the first time the work has been shown in the US). Knoebel's work plays with the viewer and space in formal ways, surprising the viewer with unexpected juxtapositions as well as unexpected color choices. You can even "hear" Palermo's voice in the work (although it is secondary - as the work is clearly that of Knoebel's) These large and expansive artworks hold the viewer and with time the shapes extend themselves outward leading my mind to consider further possibilities that this work could continue to develop. I found the works full of this quality. This was impressive to me because they are all monochromatic (reductive) artworks.

There is a secondary subtext for this work - the loss of friendship between the two. Knoebel's forms that make 24 Colors... are similar to a jigsaw puzzle that will never fit together and none of the artworks has a right angle - the works distill and speak of a messier thing than the formalities of either of the two's work. The work speaks obliquely about friendship and loss.

Labels: 70's, Europe, Museums, New York

Jack Tworkov Against Extremes
UBS Gallery until October 27

Jason Andrew of Norte Maar has put together an interesting overview of Jack Tworkovs career, and I must say, I knew the work, but didn't know the work if you know what I mean. His later work seems to really be driven by his internal process to continue to create and at the same time it fully resonates with his earlier work.

Extreme of the Middle: Writings of Jack Tworkov

I was fortunate enough to be invited to the Guggenheim for a program of readings from Mira Schor's well edited new publication Extreme of the Middle: Writings of Jack Tworkov. Among the readers were Robert Mangold, Robert Moskowitz, and Mary Heilman. I resisted the impulse to go gush over a couple of my favorite artists of all time, instead I was amazed by the number of people from Bushwick who all made the journey north for the evening. Austin and Sharon seem to think the Tworkov/Schor book is the replacement for Robert Henri's book. They could very well be right.

Labels: Museums, New York, Painting

I stumbled over this on Jeffrey Collins blog. It's got a bit of age to it but is really sound and expands on the basic themes of Rymans work. It runs a bit long (almost an hour) but is well worth the time spent. What I enjoyed about this is that it's less conversation about parties and real estate and mostly honest to goodness focus on approaches and ideas.

A tip of the Hat to Jeffrey Collins for this one.

Robert Ryman
Untitled. 1965. Oil on linen, 11 1/4 x 11 1/8" (28.4 x 28.2 cm).
Fractional gift of Werner and Elaine Dannheisser

Labels: Museums, New York, Painting

Here's a small sampling...

Herb & Dorothy
Tuesday, September 15, 7 p.m.
In this award-winning documentary, director Megumi Sasaki tells the story of the Vogel's building one of the most important contemporary art collections. I've written about this before here.

Died Young, Stayed Pretty
Thursday, September 24, 6:30 p.m.
This unique documentary provides a candid look at the underground indie-rock poster culture in North America. It offers an intimate look into this modern subculture, revealing the little known world of rock poster giants such as Art Chantry, Brian Chippendale, the Ames Brothers, Print Mafia, and Rob Jones. Director Eileen Yaghoobian introduces the film.

Labels: Film, Museums, Washington DC

This is from Artforum, I found it via C-Monster.

Come September 1, the European Union has banned the sale of incandescent lightbulbs. As the Süddeutsche Zeitung’s Till Briegleb reports, the ban will have an impact on art, specifically works that use lightbulbs for either functional, aesthetic, or historical effects. A case in point is the work of the Russian artist Ilya Kabakov, who often hangs a bare lightbulb in his installations as a melancholic homage to the Soviet-era ideal of electricity, which was not always available to the citizens.

“Unfortunately, there are no exceptions to [the law] 2005/32/EG” writes Briegleb. “And thus artists, restorers, and museum technicians find themselves faced with the bizarre necessity of small-time criminality.” Kabakov is not the only artist to use bulbs. There are 140 in László Moholy-Nagy’s Light-Space-Modulator; the German post–Word War II “Zero” Group was fond of lightbulbs. There’s a host of contemporary artists, including Olafur Eliasson, Carsten Höller, Jorge Pardo, Valie Export, Stephan Huber, Isa Genzken, Mike Kelley, and Adrian Paci. Even artists who did not work explicitly with lightbulbs have used them: Rauschenberg, Kienholz, Tinguely, and Beuys.

As Briegleb notes, the illegal sale of lightbulbs—even to museums—comes with a hefty fine: $70,000. Even if the existing bulbs could be saved, it’s clear that the supply will eventually be exhausted. To keep a lightbulb work by Felix Gonzalez-Torres or Höller shining bright, museums and collectors will need more than one thousand bulbs, since the traditional ones tend to last on average sixty to eighty days under the kind of constant use that is typical for such installations.

Labels: Europe, Galleries, Museums

That means there is really no reason not to go see William Eggleston: Democratic Camera again. I know you probably saw it in New York earlier but it's here in DC so go see it again. I think some of the great things about Eggleston's images are how much is really there, and how quiet the images are at the same time.

The Corcoran is at the intersection of New York Ave and 17th Street NW Washington DC

Labels: Galleries, Museums, Photography, Washington DC

Yesterday I spoke of how museums must be on the run from galleries and how galleries are able to add a little bit of extra titillation with the impact of commerce around the show. The Metropolitan Museum is showing The Pictures Generation 1974 - 1984 and funny enough, it seems to be the show that is the current blueprint for what is being shown downtown right now. Featuring 29 artists - many of whom are now "big names" in galleries it is no surprise that these artists are in sprit leading the current feel for what is being shown. Thats a blessing and a curse. Because yes, you have the big names; Cindy Sherman, Richard Prince, John Baldessari, David Salle, etc. you also have some names that maybe were not as accessible especially to a museum crowd; Glenn Branca, MICA-TV, Thomas Lawson.

The down side to this show is very clear. We are as a culture somehow creating and showing work that is clearly in the shadow of these artists. For some reason we are unable or unwilling to push further away or pull even closer to these ideas and approaches. Granted the pluralistic tendency of the period is hard to get past - however there are people going in different directions that seem to be having at least some success.

I confess to just running out of time tonight with this post - tomorrow I'll be naming names and discussing some of the more interesting shows I saw in my weekend in New York.

Labels: 80's, DC Galleries, Museums, New York

In the late forties and fifties the problem of American art had been in the subject matter - we painted portraits of ourselves when we did not know who we were, we painted landscapes as fast as we could strip mine the forest, we painted indians as fast as we could kill them and in the time of the industrial revolution we painted ourselves as rustics, it had become clear that a unique brand of American art was being discovered - not just in paint and on paper (as well as sculpture) but in a "newer" form - photography.

It is this "Americanism" that becomes really interesting to me. It is clear to everyone that the influx of European artists help turn the art of that time around in a way that was forward thinking, and put to an end the idea of the french school of easel painting. The "American Painters" such as de Kooning and Rothko, who are clearly immigrants, but are considered "American Painters" led this revolution in the painting world, but photographically it was Robert Frank (Swiss) with his publication of The Americans. It is clear that the role of the European immigrant played as big a role in the art of that time as it has played in the role of industrializing the United States as a whole.

With the publishing of The Americans fifty years ago, Frank establishes a new iconography for contemporary photography that is still in use today, bits of bus depots, lunch counters, cars, anonymous faces, movie stars and the land mass of the sea shore and the great plains, in essence "America" is the subject in all of it's warts and glitter.

In Hollywood, the publication of The Americans would be the end of the story, it's success celebrated. However this was not to be with The Americans, in fact it was considered a commercial failure. Later with every passing day (or year) a critical drumbeat was being heard and it became obvious that The Americans, with it's positive and negative views was as complex as the country it was named for. By the 1970's it was clear the The Americans was the most influential, and the most important book of photography published in the previous 30 years. This personal political approach would become a standard in how we view photography for the years to come.

To bring this full circle, it was Robert Frank that taught us how to see ourselves as "Americans".

Currently on view at the National Gallery, Looking In, Robert Frank's The Americans, marks the Fiftieth anniversary of the publication of The Americans, with an exhibit of the book, as well as earlier books and contact sheets from the Frank Archive. I'm thrilled that the show was more than just plowing forward with a linear view of the book (think page one, two, etc), instead it breaks the work into four distinct groups and presents the material in a way that allows for a reading of the work understanding that you will never be able to enforce the linear flow of a book when a show is staged in multiple rooms. The work is as strong and as fresh feeling to me as it was the first time I saw the book in 1983.

Labels: 50's, Museums, Photography, Washington DC

Willem de Looper was a fairly unique figure in his time in Washington. A painter and high level curator, de Looper was accessible, friendly and genuine. These traits alone make him rare - the fact that our arts community was blessed with someone like him is even rarer.

Labels: DC Galleries, Death, Museums, Painting, Washington DC

I've been re-reading Pictures of Nothing by Kirk Varnedoe the last couple of weeks and have been struck by just how well Varnedoe is able to re/de/construct abstract image making at almost every level and then is able to describe such an amorphous thing in an almost laser-like directness.

In discussing Minimalism KV sets up a framework that would act as a foil to E. H. Gombrich's Art & Illusion. Could we ever have a argument for abstraction as compelling as Gombrich's argument for illusion? (Gombrich had argued that illusionism - the depiction of things in a convincing and credible fashion - was one of the great achievements of western civilization.) This framework (on abstraction) is then put through it's paces in minimalism - from "High Art" to popular culture (including 2001: A Space Odyssey and Mad Magazine)

The compelling thoughts that move me to read and re-read these passages is the approach and the encompassing process that carries the movement of Minimalism through KV's eye's, inside and through the culture of the time in which it was made. This book is starting to become a go-to in my studio practice if for no other reason than the voice of the book speaks so well to a physical and mental approach about making and showing objects.

Labels: light reading, Museums

The Metropolitan Museum and The Museum of Modern Art have brought out a pair of shows that are at once low key and extreme in the approaches in use or via the work that is presented. I'm speaking specifically of Van Gogh and the Colors of Night and Giorgio Morandi, 1890 - 1964.

Lets start with the "easy" show first. Van Gogh and the Colors of Night seems at first blush to be a blockbuster for the fall season to set up a gift shop to make a ton of dollars and make everyone feel really inspired about the trouble that Van Gogh had in his life. Well, sorry to disappoint, but this is a show without a reference to alcoholism, insanity, his "friendship" with Gauguin, or even his ear. What? it is a small show maybe 30 pieces of art, 1/3rd of which are drawings, its a quiet intense and thematically tight show.

There is a thought that goes like; some people paint the same picture their whole life. While some people continue to search for new things at every turn. Then there is the exception that proves the rule. That exception is Giorgio Morandi. The met has put together a collection that will take repeated viewings to fully grasp the subtleties of this show of primarily the same basic approach and really the same image. If your love is Damien Hirst, this show is not for you.

In an age where I've started to feel that The Met and MoMA (MoMA more so) have started to give short thrift to the classic ideas of modern art versus the impact, glamor and curatorial punch of contemporary art it is stunning to me that these shows, as different as they are, are as powerful and complex as anything I've seen lately.

Labels: Museums, New York, Painting

I was in Philadelphia recently and visited the Philadelphia Museum of Art for the first time. I was really excited to finally see what I believe is the largest collection of Marcel Duchamp's artwork anywhere in the world. Believe me, it did not disappoint. I was also thrilled to see the cycle of paintings that Cy Twombly did around the theme of the fall of Troy and the death of Achilles. Today however, I'm focusing on Duchamp. Marcel Duchamp if your nasty.

I'm assuming that the readership of this blog is versed well enough in the story (legend if you will) of The Large Glass, so I will only do a quick re-cap. The Large Glass is an artwork that is painted on glass, however, I would think that a painting would actually involve paint - MD instead used dust in stand oil, or linseed oil (I can never remember). The images used in the painting are self referential to Duchamp's work, and consists of two panels one on top of the other similar to a double hung window. The Large Glass remained "unfinished" but was sold and shipped to the collector that bought it (Walter Arensberg, if I'm incorrect, let me know) however upon opening the crate, the glass had broken, it was at this point Duchamp considered the work finished.

Anyway, I finally get to spend some time with this artwork that has defined, defied, aroused and confused so many. This artwork has become almost mythical in my mind to the point where I doubted that I would ever really see it. It is the most majestic failure and the most amazing masterpiece that I have ever seen. It is just that simple a piece of art.

Later that night I was having a conversation with Douglas Witmer and we were talking about what would be an interesting project to assign if you were an art teacher - Douglas said he thought it would be really interesting to set up an assignment that defined who you were not. This was discussed farther as we both agreed that there is a serious split as it pertains to modern into contemporary art. The split was - I think we both agreed was Picasso versus Mattise. but I Can see where Duchamp broke with Picasso after cubism and found himself in his own place. I've been thinking about this idea and more and more I find myself drawn to the forks in the road, and how they make the experience of just doing something as decadent as enjoying looking at art all the more interesting.

A quick note: is there a friendlier museum than The Philadelphia Museum of Art? I doubt it. Everyone from the front desk folks to the security guards were just so friendly - it blew me away, just how nice the folks are there.

The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even (The Large Glass), 1915-23, Oil, varnish, lead foil, lead wire, and dust on two glass panels, 9 feet 1 1/4 inches x 69 1/4 inches (277.5 x 175.9 cm)

© Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris / Estate of Marcel Duchamp

Labels: modernism, Museums, Philadelphia

People don't seem to be talking much about the Martin Puryear show at the National Gallery - and it's a shame because the work is so good and Puryear is one of the few local artists to reach the international arena.

However the exhibition is disjointed as parts of the show are located all over the gallery. Four or five pieces are in the west building, Ladder for Booker T. Washington is installed in the main rotunda in the east building and the rest of the show is shoehorned into the smaller galleries of the west wing of the main building, forcing the viewer to go through a maze of rooms. Even with only two or three artworks in each gallery, they feel tight and really with one exception the works are unable to resonate with each other.

To me one of the great beauties of Puryears work is the absolute craftmanship that is evident in his work in every form and material he uses. These are well thought out and beautifully made objects that hint at mystery and the eccentricity of the creative process. This ecentricity has always intrigued me - its almost cagean in the way that these artworks refer to something but they never give the whole picture. Instead they give a distillation of visual approaches without giving away the whole idea behind the piece. I find them to be some of the strongest sculpture made in the last 20 years.

Highly recomended, despite the awkard staging of the exhibition.

Martin Puryear, Old Mole, 1985

Labels: 80's, Museums, Sculpture, Washington DC

I was able to see a preview of this show during it's hanging - most of the work was still on the floor. What follows is really just a few random thoughts put together about what I perceive along with what I was told. If you read the last Palm Springs report you will know that I regard JS to be one of the dominant forces in photographing the modern period of architecture - in fact he has been a force since the 1930's when he started photographing R. M. Schindler and Richard Neutra's work as early as 1936. Then moving into the 40 - 50's working with the Eames, Saarinen and the Case study houses, JS could have pretty much rested his career right about then.

The exhibition currently on display at the Palm Springs Museum is basically centered around four of the predominant Architects work in, plus a smattering of highly notable images from his past. The four (Richard Neutra, William F. Cody, Albert Frey, and E.Stewart Williams) architects are the core of Palms Springs modern (I would also add Donald Wexler and The Krisel/Alexander architect/builder team).

The work in the show is some of the best architectural photography ever made. Much of the work is still the benchmark to all architectural photography being produced today. Really it's an embarrassment of riches. It's interesting - the photography is so good it gets out of the way after a while - what I mean is that you start focusing on the buildings and what is good and great about each architectural vision - so you need to be careful about how you look at the work because you can get lost in the details pretty easily.

Highly Recommended.

Kaufmann house, Richard Neutra, 1946. Photo: 1947
Copyright J. Paul Getty Trust. Used with permission.
Julius Shulman Photography Archive
Research Library at the Getty Research Institute

Labels: modernism, Museums, Photography

Jock Reynolds (A former WPA Director) was a real visionary when he was in the DC area so an idea like this is surprising - but not completely. I think its a very interesting idea.

(From the New York Times)
The Yale University Art Gallery, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art and the Williams College Museum of Art have teamed up to present "Sol LeWitt: A Wall Drawing Retrospective," a 25-year-long show to be installed in a newly renovated building at Mass MoCA in North Adams. In 2004, three years before LeWitt died, he and Jock Reynolds, director of the Yale gallery, began talking about the care and disposition of LeWitt's wall drawings. This led him to give Yale about 40 of these drawings, along with the wall-drawings archives.

Mr. Reynolds, realizing that Yale would never be able to show a large number of them at one time, initiated a discussion with Joseph C. Thompson, director of the 13-acre Mass MoCA campus. Mr. Thompson took LeWitt on a tour of Mass MoCA, and the artist set his sights on Building 7, an abandoned 30,000-square-foot three-floor industrial building.

"He placed every drawing and drew every wall," Mr. Thompson said.

When the project opens in November, nearly 100 wall drawings will be on view, dating from 1968 until LeWitt's death at 78 in April. About half are from Yale; the rest from public and private collections. The three institutions have raised more than $9 million, Mr. Thompson said. About $3.5 million will renovate Building 7 and $2.5 million will provide an endowment related to the exhibition. A catalogue raisonne will also be produced. Williams College is providing the educational programs tied to the show. Students from Williams, Yale and other institutions will work for six months as intern apprentices, installing the works with professionals from LeWitt's studio.

Labels: Drawings, Museums

This is the first U.S. exhibition of Botero's recent paintings documenting his reaction to news accounts and images made at U.S. military prison in Abu Ghraib, Iraq. There are two ways to go with this and I'll try to break this into two pieces, one about the paintings, the other about the politics. To me this exhibition forces me to re-examine the overall approach of Botero's art output in general. Botero, if you are not familiar with his work, has historically painted images of rotund, complacent and usually very wealthy people. Let's hold on to that thought for just a moment.

The Paintings
Showing the whole suite of artworks developed over a period of barely over a year Botero has moved quickly and decisively to develop an approach that fits stylistically into his oeuvre. These paintings are much thinner and painted in a much faster manner - they are in a way "samizdat" but paintings as opposed to printing(s). The approach of these images work for this suite of artworks - for this review, I'm going to suspend the "Painting is about "how" not "what" approach that I firmly believe in, because, the how of these images is secondary to the overall theme and message of the artworks. That said, the painting approach is perfunctory at best, but highly descriptive. In other words, the painting is just enough to tell the story. You will never be in love with the paint handling of these images, nor should you.

The Politics
The politics of torture are to most, not complex. Ask almost anyone and they will tell you that torture is morally wrong and they are opposed to it. I really believe that this is true only in abstraction. When torture enters our reality, the simplicity becomes complex. War is the great differentiator that changes the use of torture. I'm sure that there are a number of people that have no problem with the actions of the U.S. military in this situation. I do. I am appalled that this kind of image; forced humiliation and feminization, body piling and forced sexual experience, sodomization, urination as well as attack dogs are the legacy of our country's current real-politic on the world stage. This - to borrow from Tom Wolf - is the "wrong stuff".

There is another kind of politic at work here as well; the personal politics of a single voice. I've read before that to many, art is the expression of an individual that may or may not be in step with the personal desires of the population. I never really thought that I needed to see these paintings before I knew of their existence - however after learning about them over a year ago, I have been most interested in seeing them. Botero's personal feelings come through loud and clear. That reflection of the personal politic is one of the few ways art can become a powerful moving force in our political culture.

I'm curious about the implications that these acts of torture by a "civilized country" such as ours will bring to us as a nation in the future.

The Approach of Botero's Artworks
I asked you to hold on to the knowledge that Botero has historically painted images of rotund, complacent and usually very wealthy people. I am now forced to re-evaluate those images as not the light hyper-real satire that they seem to be, but possibly a much darker version of ourselves where our worst actions manifest themselves physically and place our true core of humanity on display for everyone to understand.

Fernando Botero - Abu Ghraib, is on display at the Katzen Art Center at American University through December.

Labels: Museums, Painting, Washington DC

The board of trustees of the Phillips Collection announced today the appointment of Dr. Dorothy Kosinski, senior curator of painting and sculpture at the Dallas Museum of Art, as the museum's new director.

Labels: Museums, Washington DC

[image removed]

The Center for the Technical Study of Modern Art, a research arm of Harvard University Art Museums, has been given Barnett Newman's studio materials. The gift includes discarded paint trials, notes, sketches, and models of Broken Obelisk and gives researchers technical information about the artists studio practice.

Barnett Newman, Jackson Pollock, and Tony Smith at the Betty Parsons Gallery By Hans Namuth (1915-1990) Gelatin silver print, April 1951. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; gift of the estate of Hans Namuth

Labels: Museums, New York, Painting

The New York Times reported (via the Associated Press) on Saturday that six wooden Brillo boxes in the Moderna Museet are fakes madethree years after Warhol's death. The Moderna said it had investigated the six Brillo boxes after a Swedish newspaper claimed that they were copies. The Swedish paper Expressen claimed that Hulten (a former director at the Museet), who died last year, sold a number of the copies with certificates falsely stating that they were made for a Warhol exhibition in Stockholm in 1968.

Labels: 60's, international, Museums

Morris Louis produced a startling amount of work in the short span of time that was his life. Between 1954 - 1962 Louis produced more than 600 artworks in what was for it's time a stunning new direction. This direction has become known as "Color-Field Painting".

The theory is that Color-Field Painting is based on two general components; color and field. There are a few lesser ideas as well, one of which is working away from any kind of figure-ground relationship, and it is heavily weighted on the shoulders of Clement Greenberg. Greenberg's raise was the championing of the Abstract Expressionists and Color-Field Painting was his second act.

In the past few years, Greenberg has fallen from critical favor and the group of artists that are pulled down with him are the Color-Field artists. It has become clear to me that Color-Field Painting needs to be looked at through a different lens if it is going to regain any footing in the history of art as a whole (I'm talking group of artists not individuals). The fact is, that Helen Frankenthaler and Morris Louis have created some amazing paintings (as have Olitski, Gilliam, Noland, and Davis to name a few) however what struck me about Louis's painting in this show was the incredible amount of process that is right at the surface of these artworks, combine the obvious links between Color-Field Painting and what would become known as minimalism and you have a serious mix of artworks to be looked at through a very different lens than that of "Greenbergian" doctrine. I think this is the reason these paintings stay at the forefront of art, while the "movement" as a whole is kind of a sinking ship. At the end of the day, color-field or other reductive strategies are still being used to make artworks. Hence the serious need to develop a new way of looking and thinking about these artists.

Which brings me back to the Morris Louis show, Two works in particular stood out to me, Dalet Tet, 1959, an amazing amount of work in creating this canvas - with so many pours developing into a rich velvet like black with color pours dancing underneath. This was the first piece that I saw of Louis's that made me think and visually explore more about the process of his artwork. The second piece Beth Chet, 1958, with it's array of browns and umbers, this image stands out for me as much for it's difference to the other works, as well as it's use of semi-architectural elements. (sorry, no images were available)

This is the first museum show of Louis's work in 20 years. The show, although a little on the short side is still a very strong show if for no other reason than it is time to start critically reassessing a pivotal time in abstract image making. Highly Recommended.

Morris Louis Now
An American Master Revisited at the Hirshhorn Sept 20 - January 6

Image at top: Morris Louis, Number 99, 1959-1960
Acrylic resin (Magna) on canvas, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Contemporary Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1968.110. Copyright 1960 Morris Louis.

Labels: Criticism, Museums, Painting, Washington DC

The New York Times Magazine has a great article in the Dia Foundation from both the management side as well as the donor side. The Patron Gets a Divorce is just an amazing read.

A very curious article on Lisa Dennison about her departure from the Guggenhein for Sotheby's.
New York Magazine

Labels: Museums

It's the first post of September and that means coming attractions for museums in our area for the next year or so, here are a few highlights.

Martin Puryear (starting at MoMA - and travels to the National Gallery June 22 - Sept 28)
MP has always been a special artist with me. I first became aware of his work when I worked for Nancy Drysdale in the mid-eighties. His work struck me as occupying a place that was unusual in that he creates these artworks that transform the space around and inside them in unusual ways and at the same time, his work almost revels in the craft of the object as well. Puryear's craft is like a cross between shaker furniture and Charles and Ray Eames - it's just that great. This should be interesting as well as a well received show.

Color as Field: American Painting, 1950 - 1975 (starting at Denver Art Museum and travels to Smithsonian American Art Museum Feb 29 - May 26)
I know that Washington is heavily indebted to the color field - but at this point I have a hard time seeing this approach come back in fashion anytime soon - but the thing is there are some amazing paintings that were made during this time period (Helen Frankenthaler, Morris Louis, Gene Davis, Anne Truitt, and Ellsworth Kelly come to mind). At some point, there is going to be a critical re-examination of the color field and it's influence moving forward. I just don't see anybody taking that on any time soon, especially in the light of having to bump up against Clement Greenberg's last stand. I do think someone will do this eventually, and if done right we will receive great rewards. This should be a visually rich show, even if we don't reconstruct the approach and historical context.

Edward Hopper (Sept 16 - Jan 21)
What can I say, Hopper is an icon and everyone loves his work (mostly). This is bound to be a crowd pleaser.

Labels: Museums, Washington DC

A woman has been arrested on suspicion of kissing a painting by American artist Cy Twombly and smudging the bone-white canvas with her lipstick, French judicial officials said Saturday. According to the Associated Press, via the Guardian.

Read the whole story here

Labels: Europe, Museums

I'm a little bit surprised by this because NR has been so hot for the last few years - along with "serious" critical writings by the art press. So when a new show happens at a major institution, of all new work, you would think someone would care.

Or am I way off on this one?

Labels: Museums, New York, Painting

In Dogen's Shobogenzo Zuimonki students are taught not to worry about clothing or food and only to focus on "the way". After a few rounds of questions regarding the practicality of such an approach, Dogen responded that the important thing is to be focused on "the way", these other things are trivial in the whole of your practice.

Robert Ryman has said "It is not the what, but the how of painting that is important" (paraphrased).

More and more I come to believe that these ideas, thousands of years apart are for the most part some of the most important words ever said about the production of artwork (if they were even said about artwork at all). It is with this in mind I focused on my gallery tour through New York last week.



Andreas Gursky at Matthew Marks
Let's get to the meat about this show right off the bat. The critical tongue lashing that Jerry Saltz gave this show last week in New York made it hard not to think about the comment that he (Gursky) is delivering a lesser show than is expected. This may or may not be true - depending on your point of view. There is something to say (good and bad) about the artist that hammers the same nail over and over again - however the spectacle of these images is incredibly hard to resist. His artworks, I believe have started to embrace that spectacle more than anything else.

These new images re-establishes Gursky's love of ordered spaces and grids. This is true for the more organic pieces as it is for the overly geometric. As I look at the how of these images and the spectacle they deliver to the viewer, there is a lot to sit and digest. The other side of these images are lavish, enormous in size and detail and flawlessly executed. The images of race car crews in particular bring to mind late european salon style mannerism to mind, with the obvious staging and production these surely required.



Haim Steinbach at Sonnabend
As we discuss the artist that hammers the same nail for a career, Steinbach is much further along in that process than Gursky, however the lack of spectacle or even banality of Steinbach's work brings very different questions than does Gursky's. First off, we know that Steinbach is focused on the practice of questioning of domestic objects ability to be simultaneously functional, decorative and expressive, and I find that interesting - especially when I first saw his work at the Washington Project for the Arts in 1984. Unfortunately very little has changed with the exception of his works seeming to match in color palette extremely well. In this case, as much as I enjoy the combinations of relationships that occur in these works - it's time for a new framework to present these thoughts.

Andy Goldsworthy at Lelong
I know I'll get a lot of crap for liking this show - however Goldworthy's base in conceptual work with Arte Povera undertones really comes to the forefront with this installation. The show is titled White Walls, it consists of clay applied to the wall and allowed to sit, dry, and eventually fall. I attended around the halfway point of this show and most of the "wall" was at this point on the floor. This made for a real pleasure of ruins type moment. It also made me realize that his work is in the field and very rarely in the gallery.

The big complaint people have with Goldsworthy are the books of nature images/installations - and although I'm not one of those people who intensely dislike them, neither am I in love with them. This show, really does carry forward to me the thought that art is about the experience of looking and being in the same environment as the art itself.

Jean-Michel Basquiat at Van de Weghe Fine Art
As much as I am currently a little bit tired of JMB at the moment this is really a enjoyable show. Hung salon style as many as 4 high and on every surface of the gallery, this is a rewarding and slowly paced show - probably due to the hanging style of the show. The works are mostly works of words and some simple sketches - these are not his paintings and that's ok. I was expecting a real stinker and came away very happy.

2x4 at Luhring Augustine
Reinhard Mucha and Rachel Whitread steal this show with two great pieces. Whiteread with one of her white room based works, in this case a casting of a door (similar to her work on display at the Nation Gallery right now) focusing on the space occupied by the object than the object itself. Mucha with a sculpture of wood and canvas - that seems to be barely holding together - until you notice the small buttons keeping the structure inside contained. A small show that delivers great rewards.



Jim Dine at Pace Wildenstien
I'm always quick to discount Jim Dines work - especially after what seems like years of hearts and robes as images. However I have always loved the way he draws and sculpts - his sculpted venus figure I saw in Arizona (at the Bentley Projects) has really strong in how it help it's space and the way the form evolved to the viewer. However nothing prepared me for his current "Pinocchio" sculptures. These artworks are at once finished and rough - with the Disney version of Pinnochio as it's initial point of view. However that point of view is twisted just a little bit - let's call these the "Pinnochio for the disenfranchised".

These are wooden sculptures of 5 - 7 feet in height, roughly sculpted and loosely painted. They seem at once new and old. The painting of the artworks is almost the way Neal Jenney painted his "bad paintings" - the color is used as an indicator, not as a stand in for detail. This is especially apparent in one piece where you can see the traces of the eyes painted in, only later to be smeared out.

To me this seems like Dine has started to recharge his work - in ways that seem to allow him to open up to newer and more interesting approaches. This is the kind of later career thing that I think Saltz is really trying to get to with his Gursky review. Highly recommended.



Richard Serra at MoMA
Here is the story of my getting kicked out of Moma. I didn't get kicked out of the whole museum - just the part I'm not supposed to be in. Here it goes. I was very interested to see the installation of the new Richard Serra retrospective that is currently being installed, and seeing as I was probably not going to be in town anytime soon, I decided to slip inside the installation and have a look around.

Let me say right now - this show is going to be the hit of the spring summer in New York.

Some of the things I saw - "One Ton Prop" - a piece I've wanted to see for some time as well as two of the lead plate and pole pieces (I think one of them was "Corner Prop Piece" a "Torqued Elipse" and some early pieces I just don't know by sight. Bottom line though is this is a fantastic installation even though it is in process.

So I'm looking around like the fanboy that I am and eventually someone step up to me and asks "What I'm doing here?" in my most nonchalant way I say "I'm checking out a couple of things" clearly this is not going to work when he replies - "like what?" It is at this point I'm asked to leave the area, and I'm escorted to the door. They were really pretty good about the whole thing and I was respectful too so it wasn't taken any further by the staff - to that I'm thankful.

So I was reading the interview by Kynaston McShine and I learned quite a little bit - one of the oddball things I liked - Serra used to have a small moving company called Low Rate Movers - here is the list of some of the workers; Steve Reich, Michael Snow, Chuck Close, Phillip Glass, and Spalding Grey. I knew that Glass was also a Taxi driver as well as Serra's assistant on some pieces - does this make him the hardest working man in avant garde New York?

Labels: Galleries, Museums, New York, Richard Serra

By this I am talking specifically about the Kreeger Museum.

I think one of the reason's you don't hear much about the Kreeger is because it is not on the media radar. It also is not within easy reach (although if you have a car it's not a problem). The Kreeger is available by reservation only Tuesday - Friday and open 10 - 4 without a reservation on Saturday.

The collection is great, the environment is calm and since there is almost no one else there its a very enjoyable experience. Currently they have a show of Gene Davis's work as part of the ColorField remix project. I am assuming that they also have a good portion of the permanent collection on display as well.

for more information visit: www. kreegermuseum.org

Labels: Museums, Washington DC

The Philip Johnson Glass House will open to the public for the first timethis spring. This 47-acre site, with buildings designed in each decade of Philip Johnson's life, represents a survey of architecture and art. The 1949 house is among the symbols of modernist architecture.

The basic concept for Johnson's glass house was borrowed from Mies van der Rohe, who was designing the glass-and-steel Farnsworth House during the same period. Unlike the Farnsworth House, however, Johnson's home is symmetrical and sits solidly on the ground. The interior space is divided by low walnut cabinets and a brick cylinder which contains the bathroom. The cylinder and the brick floors are a polished purple hue; the steel is dark gray. Included in the landscape are sculptures and a guest house.

Springtime is considered "the preview months" (April, May, and June) these previews will precede the Inaugural Gala Picnic to be held on Saturday June 23, 2007. The Gala Picnic will feature the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.

Of Note: Metropolis Magazine has a great article "Extending the Legacy" on the Glass House as well as a great slide show. Above image is by Paul Warchol for Metropolis

Labels: Museums

With the current big show of "Modernism" comes news that the Corcoran is going to go large this fall with a Ansel Adams show. The Adams show will feature 125 images from The Lane Collection.

It has been widely reported that attendance has been down at the Corcoran over the last few years - however with this years crop of shows, that is looking to be a thing of the past. I for one would love to see the Corcoran do a series of smaller shows, in conjunction with the blockbusters, similar to what Ned Rifkin did in the eighties with his "Options" series.

A quick explanation about the "Options" series; these were small one room shows that were up usually for 2 maybe 3 months at most and were not beholden to a catalog - they were usually based around a single idea (The Generic Figure, New Sculpture, etc.) although every once in a while a solo show (Tony Cragg, I think) would happen.

I always thought it was a great way to showcase work in a different light.

Labels: 80's, Museums, Washington DC

Matthew Collings in Modern Painters
Have I ever mentioned how much I love his column in Modern Painters each month? I'm sure he is one pain in the ass to deal with as far as not pissing off your advertisers and being an all around crusty old guy. Thank god I don't have to deal with that because, I love his column. One of Matthew Collings and Emma Biggs' paintings is above.

Following up on: Laika
As you might remember a number of months back I mentioned that First Second was going to be publishing a graphic novel about Laika the cosmonaut. It has clearly missed it's publishing schedule. The author, Nick Abadizis is one of the rising stars in of graphic novels, however, the project seemed to have a good bit of energy behind it at one point - even though the publishing date has been pushed to the fall of this year.

Corcoran curatorial staff makes a wise decision
Mr. Gopnik from the Post this weekend ran a brief article about why and who the Corcoran borrowed artworks to fill the gaps of the Modernism exhibit. It is a pretty well known fact that most traveling shows are not the same from location to location - shows even tend to read differently when hung in different venues (a great example is the DC and NY versions of the DADA show this year). All I can say is this was the right thing and smart thing to do. Reaching out to seven local organizations for 19 or 20 pieces can give a show more texture and depth. Even better it gives the viewer a better experience. Let's hope we see more cross-town loans like this in the future.

The Corcoran has big hopes for this show and is trying it's best to get people back into the gallery. At least this show doesn't have an image of a frog playing the banjo.

Labels: Comics, Fontana Mix, Magazines, Museums

The 2008 Biennial will be a homegrown affair, the New York Times' Carol Vogel reports. Heading the group are two Whitney curators-Henriette Huldisch and Shamim M. Momin-with Donna De Salvo, the museum's chief curator, overseeing the project. Three outside advisers are also in the mix:

Thelma Golden, director and chief curator of the Studio Museum in Harlem
Bill Horrigan, director of the media arts department at the Wexner Center for the Arts
Linda Norden, a curator and writer who was the commissioner of the United States Pavilion for the 2005 Venice Biennale

The complaining begins now....

Labels: Bad Review, call for entries, Museums

I don't need to discuss the paintings - you should already know them. So I'm going to skip the you should see this one or that one type of thing. The show is devoted to the "first" ten years of image production by JJ - it is purposely edited and I think thats a wise decision. I will admit that it is not edited the way I would have edited the work - still the editing does give the show a real sense of start and finish as well as an invitation for looking for further work.

The four areas of this show (targets, device, skin, and naming) seem thin. This is where a different set of subjects could have been more interestingly shown to me anyway. What others are missing? maps, numbers and alphabets, pattern, monochrome (this would have been overarching) and lastly, process. If it were me, you would have seen: targets, device, maps, numbers and alphabets. I mention monochrome because it does indeed stretch across the whole body of JJ's work. Naming does the same thing as monochromes - however to me it feels more like a tactical device versus a contextual device.

Despite my different thoughts about leit-motifs, within the show, it as a whole is quite the viewing, and well worth your time. (sidebar for a moment: how great is it that the NGA is free - I was able to go to the show and see this one show and get out, without having to feel like I had to see the whole museum - I love that about the museums in DC) The show is great until the last few rooms when it becomes the tightest hanging I've ever been a witness to at the NGA - literally at one point I needed to stand two feet away from one painting on a south wall to view the painting on the west wall. Maybe better planning could have been used. I must admit that the layout and flow were very similar to the Dada exhibit. Considering that JJ was at one time considered a "new dadaist" there is a certain humor in that.

One thing that is never said as much as I think it should be is the role/influence that Robert Rauschenberg clearly has on the first ten years of JJ's work (and vice versa). this comes through loud and clear in all of the "Skin" images. These use RR's technique of lighter fluid and burnisher to get images from other media. The images that were made around the time of "Souvenir" all owe a little bit to RR's combines. I have always felt that the JJ/RR relationship (whatever it was) is really the post war art world version of Picasso and Braque.

That said it cant be much better in a museum to be standing in one room with almost all of the targets Johns ever painted in one room, curatorially that is one hell of a masterstroke.

Jasper Johns: An Allegory of Painting, runs through April 29.

Labels: 60's, Jasper Johns, Museums, Washington DC

It is nice to see the Phillip Guston's hanging in a spot that deserves a second look - These paintings just keep getting better and better and feel more relevant than ever.

I think we can take Ad Rhienhart's "the stations of the cross" series down for awhile - I think these have been up since the East wing opened - at least it feels like it. Let me be clear - these are not his best work.

The NGA has two really great Rymans. I still love the Rachel Whiteread sculpture upstairs as well.

Labels: Museums, Painting, Washington DC

Sotheby's raises commissions as auctions boom
Sotheby's has raised the commission charged to buyers on big-ticket auction purchases worldwide. Previously, the buyer's commission was 20 percent on the first $200,000 bid at auction and 12 percent on the balance of the total bid. Now, buyers will be charged 20 percent on the first $500,000, or an additional $24,000, and 12 percent on the balance. The last time Sotheby's increased its buyer's commission was in January 2005. Within weeks, Christie's raised its commission to match Sotheby's; as of now, Christie's has not announced any plans to raise its fees.

Million dollar gift to baltimore
The Baltimore Museum of Art, which has one of the world's largest collections of works by the painter Henri Matisse, will receive a ten million dollar endowment gift from one of its honorary trustees. The gift from Dorothy McIlvain Scott is the largest in the museum's history.

Bronze sculptures, including Rodin, stolen from dutch museum
Thieves have stolen seven bronze sculptures, including a cast of Auguste Rodin's The Thinker, from a Dutch museum's garden.

This is starting to get a little bit silly. I mean how difficult is it to have a security team for a museum? or even a gate for a sculpture garden? But don't worry, the police have got this all sorted because, The police asked smelters and foundries "to keep their ears and eyes open."

All stories above from Bloomberg and Artforum

Labels: Artforum, Baltimore, Fontana Mix, general notice, Museums

Jasper Johns is probably the greatest painter in the second half of the twentieth century. That is quite a statement, I know. However when you look at the body of work into the 1970's you will see many of the critical approaches stemming from work he pursued. I'm talking specifically about; Pop, Minimal, Conceptual, and Pattern and Decoration. Artists from each of these movements all owe at least a strong nod to his work, especially when you look at the way he used systems and approaches to breakdown and re construct painting.

Jasper Johns: An Allegory of Painting, 1955-1965 goes on view January 28th.

By the way, Target is the sponsor of this show. I'm sure that is no accident. Lets hope that the corporate meat grinder is unable to completely co-opt artwork that has far greater meaning (or lack of meaning, if you know what I mean) as opposed to simply becoming a shill for the newest version of Kmart. (Please don't tell me how they love design, because we all know that as soon as that sales ploy ends, the whole "we love design thing" is gone)

Labels: conceptual art, general notice, Museums, Painting

I'm quite surprised that I have not seen anyone comparing and contrasting these two shows - they seem to go together intellectually quite well. After Art Basel I'll be in New York and will do just this thing - look for it in about 2 weeks - maybe 3.

Labels: Brice Marden, general notice, Museums, Painting, Sean Scully

Jack Flam highlights the above mentioned Matisse painting in Saturday's Wall Street Journal (page P12) and makes the audacious claim that it was truly the beginning of 20th century art. He cites a few facts, they include (but not limited to); the numerous studies made for this piece, the full size cartoon, its size (6 x 8 feet), color and rhythm. There is certainly enough knowledge about this painting to warrant serious thought and I thank Mr. Flam for that, but I don't agree with his proclamation.

"Le Bonheur" certainly has a great provenance - previously owned by Leo and Gertrude Stein - where it was seen by practically every artist who was in Paris including Kandinsky and Picasso. After the Steins split - it landed eventually in the Barnes collection/foundation (this is in Philadelphia - and if you follow the art world at all - I assume you know of the Barnes foundation). The painting really wasn't seem by the public until the Barnes Collection went on tour in the mid 90's - and really by then the genie had been out of the bottle since the early 20th century.

It's debut at the Salon des Independants was the only image Matisse presented at that show - and he always framed to image to be seen as a masterwork - and historically it is a shocking painting due to its color use and rhythmic lines. Of course the painting was panned by the press at the time - as was all of impressionist artwork. So that alone can't be the reason for it's greatness. It is a masterpiece of modern art - make no bones about it. I just don't see it as the flashpoint of 20th century art - I also don't know what would be. Some might suggest that it would be Picasso's "Les Demoiselles d'Avignion" but I'm not sure I would accept that either.

I'm thinking that "Le Bonheur" is a spectacular painting by a true genius - the trouble is - calling it the best is like trying to decide who invented rock and roll. So many people were around and so many great ideas were swirling around - we as viewers (or listeners) can only look and learn.

I do believe that there is some serious thought yet to be done in the Matisse versus Picasso vein. However that writer is not me.

Labels: Museums, thoughts, Wall Street Journal

At the Library of Congress - This Thursday and Friday only. Leonardo's study for the "Adoration of the Magi".

For more information visit the LOC at www.loc.gov

Labels: Museums, Washington DC

I'm a big fan of the so called "new image painters" so I'm very interested to see how this will look at MoMA. I'm pretty sure it will not be everyone's favorite - especially since this period is not very fashionable right now. I think its going to be real nice to see a piece of art that deserves a bit of notice. I like Peter Doig too, but I don't see myself missing his work at the moment.

"Rhapsody" is composed of 987 painted steel panels, each 12 x 12 inches, It is focused many stylistic tendencies of the 1970s, from minimalism to pattern and decoration to conceptualism, in a single work. It is a large and over-reaching piece that I believe is successful in many ways - in my opinion, its well worth a few minutes of your time.

Labels: Museums, Painting