"You know how it goes, someone gets a name for themselves, probably by screwing someone, and then everyone starts talking about that person's work and that's that!" C. Kotas 1/09/11
I heard the Luc Tuymans show was going to end soon so I rushed down to the Museum of Contemporary Art to see it. Having heard so much hype, I had to see the work of the much vaunted European art star.
I thought I was in for a treat...
In retrospect, I guess it was better than nothing... I think.
This was the first thing I saw, a painting about 20 feet wide.
What does it look like to you?
Is it a guy sucking a woman's face as it turns into a constellation? I gather it was a nice use of light and dark in a Ross Bleckner sort of way. Well, this nice large oil painting does prove that Tuymans can throw the long ball.
On to the rest of the show!
OK. A not-too flattering picture of Condoleezza Rice and a place setting. hmmm...
A skier and a church. hmmm...
Some pillows? A couple toilet bowl covers?
Okay. It's getting BORING in here!
These images are so banal, they're hardly worth uploading!
Oh... I get it. The paintings don't stand on their own merit. You have to consult the accompanying literature. The paintings have to be propped up by narrative!
A Luc Tuymans painting is only half the story, you have to READ about the rest!
Sorry friends, but that's where I draw the line. Call him a "conceptual artist" but don't call him a painter. In my opinion, a painting is supposed to be pure visual communication. It should begin and end with itself.
How distorted the art world has become when a guy can hoodwink an international audience and they go along with his "vision" that a boring painting is more than a boring painting!
"Hey Luc! With all due respect, it IS possible to put the life/death cycle in a single artwork. You should try it sometime. You might find it rewarding!"
If you knew that Tuymans investigates the after-affects of some of the most traumatic events in human history would that float your art boat? (That doesn't do it for me.)
If you knew that he immerses himself in a subject for weeks before banging out a dozen paintings, would that blow your art skirts up? (I'm sorry. I don't find that so interesting!)
Below is a Luc Tuymans oil painting called "Gift." It's about 8 square feet. Very simple, nicely painted, waxy kind of surface and stapled on the side. The emperor's new kind of art.
I am not seeing what is so great about Tuymans!
And you should see how they pack and ship their Tuymanses! Like little nuclear warheads about to go off, so valuable are they! The Tuymans shipping crates are carefully protected against any possible forces majeure. Million dollar babies.
Well thank god there was a little side show at the MCA. A performance artist named Lou Mallozzi was describing the visitors below while staring at them through a telescope. He was fairly amusing.
("Without You I'm Nothing.")All in all, a splendid time was had by all.... well that's about it. Thanks for reading.
p.s. There was a painting in the MCA collection that I liked. It looks like this and was made in the 70s.
Now that is a good painting!
Check out the colors, the physical action, the sculptural use of canvas and framing. Kind of like Elizabeth Murray only 10 years earlier. I didn't copy down his name but he is probably a California artist. BRAVISSI MOMO MOMA!
Joe Kotas 1/30/11
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1 comment:
Well done! Nice review. I couldn't have said it better myself!
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