Laura Owens, Untitled, 2014. Ink, silkscreen ink, vinyl paint, acrylic, oil, pastel, paper, wood, solvent transfers, stickers, handmade paper, thread, board, and glue on linen and polyester, five parts. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from Jonathan Sobel 2014.281a-e. © Laura Owens, Photo ©Andrew Lucre
Well maybe not happy but certainly a lot less depressed, a lesser of two evils. I haven't exactly been out of the 'art loupe' but certainly out of New York loopiness for months on end. Out of the city one begins to see art, make art, rather than being consumed by art. You meet very smart people who aren't die hard Democrats. Nor are they fools. They work. They listen. They are not loopy. They do not agree. Yet loopy is for better or worse everywhere you go. One neighbor creates a tiny other world on her lawn every Spring. It's art. Then of course there are the gnomes. I'm becoming quite affectionate of kitsch. Of angels. Of the purplish prose of gardens.
Could one describe Laura Owens' show at the Whitney intelligent 'loopy' for the better? I didn't do much homework and knew not of her work before arriving. When Whitney curator Scott Rothkopf first saw her at the Isabella Gardner Museum in 2001 "should I think this is good art or bad art". It was "the kitsch, corny, cute" with serious method "craft" and attitude that eventually hooked him. She "holds our attention and keeps us looking". Owens gave a talk on Jeff Koons and Rothkopf after thought: an exhibition will work at the Whitney.
Hard to disagree with Mr.Rothkopf. This is the Whitney Museum downtown's first artist mid-career survey. What a privilege it is for an artist allowed the entire 8th floor devoted to one work. The 5th floor is beautifully curated and crafted reflecting the architectural sensibilities and possibilities of Laura Owens painting. If one saw a single work in isolation it would be easy to dismiss what she's all about. (The reason art fairs -no stings -that showcase just one artist are very welcome and would be sorely missed.)
She creates a photographic depth of field: ability to see into a painting and for the work to see its audience. So what is new about THAT? ! Well: the seeming simplicity and seeming naivety. Hitchcock 'McGuffins' everywhere. Yet is there ever a film? Is that the non-narrative point to it all? The art becomes your film not an auteur's. Not every work will resonate for all but enough hopefully. And I have never seen paintings hung/curated high up row by row almost obscured as you traverse a thin corridor. Loved that!
Maybe there are other American artists who also deserve a show/this show like this. I'm sure there are. But that's what is great about the Whitney institution. All that time and effort and financial resources invested allows its audiences to believe maybe dream again. It allows artists to believe even more again about the possibility of another island.
Then there is the great Jimmi Durham (that opened last week). Another story! That is an autumn art treat double bill.
©Jimmi Durham
As if that all wasn't enough art, was invited to a raffle/viewing/apartment 'staging' contest in the evening, a little dubious, but 550 Vanderbilt is a massive undertaking just off the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The story is here. A shame original architect Frank Gehry isn't much to be obviously seen but hey ho the wind and the rain. It got built!
I was interested also because apartment staging is so often underwhelming. For those not 'in the know' staging is all the furniture/artwork/soft furnishings/carpets etc realtors employ to sell their lonely bare spaces. The 'account' changed hands from Corcorans to Ryan Serhant's NestSeekers as the inventory wasn't moving so fast. Smart guy. He roped in Iconic Modern Home and 4 young design teams to vamp his 2 br $2million plus 'horizon to die for view' apts on the 13th floor. A shame we didn't see the sunsets from a month ago but the dark and the rain didn't detract from the fun. Art in stagings is so often just 'wall filler'/bling. These young folk knew way better. As did Ryan Serhant. It's the cardinal rule of design also isn't it? The design has to resonate. Speak. Ever so subtly and quietly and maybe loudly insomuch as it respects neighbors inhabiting the same space making the music.
If you don't create something special in a 'staging' then really what is ever the point?
A metaphor for living surely….!
There is a lot to be said for buying new build apartments. But the allure of a way cheaper fixer upper out of town, no neighbors cheek by jowl to contend with. More than a grain of truth in Darren Aronofsy's Mother!, though. It's not so much style over substance as the substance is the style in all? Aronofsky's oveure- a tour de force of direction and cinematography. Javier Bardem's amiable, caring husband to his young wife (Jennifer Lawrence) reminded me of Harrison Ford's character in What Lies Beneath without the denouement. Mother! isn't a horror film and reminded me more of Polanski's Repulsion than Rosemary's Baby. Unlike those two movies it is hard to care about the couple in Mother! A psychological hurricane that impacts then disappears. All three aforementioned films have a further trajectory to who knows where. It's a storm in an Aronofsky tea cup but like all miniatures fascinating to ponder.
On a happy note for children of the future, attended a celebration for ProjectArt founded by Adarsh Alphons in 2010/11 that provides free arts education in libraries. Over 4 million elementary youth do not receive access to arts education in the U.S. Quite an extraordinary journey that now covers 44 locations in 6 cities without organizational 'bricks and mortar'. Adarsh was expelled from school in India when he was seven years old for drawing in every class. The 7-year-old student Nadia endearingly said she learnt she 'could scribble on a bit of paper when she got angry'. Such a project opens the mind of children and though many may never become artists they will hopefully understand and cope with the world that little bit better.
