Mass MoCA Visit

Before heading home from Mass. on Monday Lisa and I visited Mass MoCA, a contemporary art center. I am always excited to see art wherever or in whatever form it takes. The brochure in the hotel listed two exhibits I couldn't wait to see. First a Sol LeWitt retrospective. He's the 'idea guy.' At first he would make simple art on walls himself then over the years simply gave instructions for installing the art. He believed in the idea being the purpose. The idea is important, not the artist. Over time his language evolved beyond simple lines to include colorful, undulating patterns as well as geometric shapes. If he was showing, he would direct helpers to install the art in the gallery or space and more often than not paint over the art after the show. The most amazing part of the retrospective was seeing his instructions. A simple drawing with some penciled in text sitting under glass. I felt the care in that. What disappointed me was the starkness of the completed walls. I understand that the idea is on display but why can't it also be a chance for the installation artists to give something. I felt nothing, no reverence, no deep respect...a robot could have painted the walls. I am used to contemporary art making me feel uncomfortable because that seems to be a major theme these days...'yes life is awful,' 'there are so many wars,' 'we are fighting to make art,' and so on... There is almost an acre of wall space occupied by this late artists ideas. I just wish it meant more to those who participated in making that happen.
mass moca Sol LeWitt link



Now to the Elegies...
These Days: Elegies for Modern Times

I was SOO looking forward to this! Here's a snippet from the MassMoCA site:

Bringing together six artists whose work is infused with that lyric's sense of wonderment, and with the poetic and musical tradition of the elegy, These Days: Elegies for Modern Times responds to today's changing world with installations, photographs, painting, sculpture and video. The exhibition is at once an extended lamentation, but also full of a revelatory sense of possibility and hope.

I didn't feel anything but a sense of doom from this whole exhibit. The only textual poetry was Dante! For more: link. I don't know...

To top it all they had THIS IS KILLING ME!
Show don't tell.

In contrast to the popular mythology of the studio as a site of inspired genius, these artists depict the studio as a space of always difficult labor, laced more with self-doubt than triumphant brilliance. Part and parcel of the pervasive uncertainties of economic distress, war, and environmental collapse that define our moment, the works in This is Killing Me reveal the specific anxieties of artists in these generally anxious times.

Self-deprecating artists using words on a canvas as a mind map full of, "my work is shit, what will they think?, what if he says this?..." What about the process? The idea? Sure recognition is nice once in a while but that's not why art is made. I know, I am being an art bitch. But I never thought I'd ever come out of a museum feeling such a sense of 'ehh' as I did on Monday. I was let down. I appreciate the work, but I got a sense that the curators of these shows wanted to tell more, they didn't connect with the art and set up way too high expectations. So either the art didn't deliver or the brochure writers didn't see the work. Oh well...

There was ONE shining ray of hope, though!

Anselm Kiefer @ Mass MoCA from Mass Moca on Vimeo.

His work is amazingly moving. “Among our most important poets of war, in this surprising body of works Anselm Kiefer presents us with poignant moments of color flowering across the ruined topographies of his vast canvases,” said Joseph Thompson, Director of MASS MoCA. Now that's hope. I would drive two hours to see this.