There’s a new smell in town, and the best way to find the source is by following your nose down Grand Avenue to MOCA. Yeah, I thought it was coming from the room of stale, day-old Rothkos too, but it doesn’t take long to figure out that the odor comes from the R.M. Quaytman exhibition down the hall; don’t stop at the toilets, you may want some relief while in front of one of the “paintings”. Or one of the 22 panels that make up the 100-ft. long show stopper, “Morning, 4.545%, Chapter 30”.
Morning, 4.545%, Chapter 30
To me, this piece has no reason to exist, and it’s possible that Quaytman felt the same way since she resorts to the usual trick that “idea-lite” artists employ to give their work the semblance of inspiration. Buried in this almost unending Post-Modernist filigree of 90º angles is a copy of work by, you guessed it, another artist. Sneaky, right? Well, not entirely, since Quaytman gives credit where credit is due, far across the room in a vitrine. There one finds a copy, or maybe it’s the real thing, who cares really, of a Mark Antonio Raimondi engraving called The Dream of Raphael, from 1507. Whoa, talk about a work in the public domain! How about we keep this useless conglomeration of nothingness as far as possible from the public domain and put it in storage someplace? Out of sight, out of her mind… Gee, wouldn’t that be nice? But there’s still a few horrors up the old studio assistant’s sleeve. For reasons I couldn’t be bothered to determine, there is a scaled-up version of a small article in the 1939-1940 New York World’s Fair newspaper, the World’s Fair Daily. Yes, this tiny article has been reproduced in oil, silkscreen ink and gesso, and, per the provided list of artworks, it took R.H. a minimum of two years to make it, from 2001 to 2003.
The Sun
But wait! Super bitchen! There’s art in the next room that took only one year to make, the epic 2011 piece, “I Modi, Chapter 22”! Which is really cool because it makes you think what MOCA would look like if it was just one big ass, expensive thrift store. Yes, the main component is leaning against a piece of Ikea inspired furniture, has a smaller piece of art next to it and some glittery, beige-y panels haphazardly placed on top of the whole, waddaya call this, assemblage? Installation component? Sculpture? I watched people’s reactions to whatever it is and only one person stopped to look closer, which made me so excited that I went over to breathe in the air of an art experience only to see that they were texting a distant galaxy on their phone.
I Modi, Chapter 22
Well, Joseph Goebbels famously said, “If you tell a lie big enough… people will eventually come to believe it.” So, when you consider whether the massive “Morning, 4.545%, Chapter 30” is art or not, just think about who’s being lied to, bigly…
Keep telling it like it is Anthony!! Your writing is a real “palette” cleanser for all the shitty art that’s out there.
A breath of fresh air you are in this foetid swamp of pretentious codswalllop
This is so refreshing. Thanks for being you, Ausgang. Your critique is spot on.
Agreed. Sometimes it’s not my eyes, sometimes it’s just not art. Thank you.
“Get offa my lawn, you hooligans!” Don’t be such a touchy old crank!
I like nerds because I am one. This show was probably produced by a nerd in concert with other nerds to share with even more nerds. it’s pro-nerd, or more exactly, nerd-dry. Still, as an advocate for things nerdy, I feel no invitation to participate in this work.
Well done my son , I’m sure it’s hurtful for the artist to read about there works that there assistant make ,, while they sit there drinking wine and eating cheese , having big deep thoughts about the nothingness that makes one think ,,,, about nothing ,,, but be carful Anthony , your trading water where one or you might be falling into a trap ,, and end up saying , my kid could have done that , when in actuality the sword cuts both ways , no your kid didn’t make that because you told him art and people like that are really stupid , – and now he or she is stupid like you , now fuck off ! But I know you wrote what you did with all your heart and with out ill intent , but was written with a big heart and deep love for art … keep swinging kid
I once thought it would be funny to call The Next Big Art Wave after Low Brow – No Brow. Just empty canvasses hanging on the walls. As I said, I thought it would be funny.
This “art” is much more empty than the blank canvasses!
Funny coming from a guy who’s own art isn’t so good, or interesting, or original. You could be critical with a bit more finesse. If you’re not careful, you could start to sound a bit like an over-energized bully. I’m glad to read more reviews that aren’t brainlessly positive but there is room for improvement here.
couldn’t you think of a better adverb than BIGLY?????