Monday, October 29, 2018

Cleaning Paint Brushes


The Dallas Museum of Art is currently showing an exhibition, Günther Förg: A Fragile Beauty. It's co-organized with the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, which says, "A Fragile Beauty explores the work of a rebellious artist whose oeuvre embodies a critical, witty, yet rigorous and penetrating critique of the canon of modern art."


Rebellious. Witty. Well, OK. Maybe we are supposed to see the art ironically. One room was filled with large paintings (see above) that made me wish to see the art he was working on when he wiped the excess paint from his brushes onto these canvases. Another room was filled with large paintings of what reminded me of tic-tac-toe cross hatches. I think one painting ought to have been titled "Hashtag: Whaaaat!?!" There were also walls covered in paintings of just one or two colors, like nautical flags but not as interesting. On many, the second color failed to cover the first. Sherwin-Williams could use the paintings as cautionary tales of what you get when you use cheap paint: "Use Sherwin-Williams so you don't need two coats."

The museum space was previously occupied by an exhibition of Laura Owens, which I didn't much care for, either. I'm back to wondering whether there are any great modern artists. If you still care, you can see the exhibit from October 21, 2018 to January 27, 2019.

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