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

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