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18. December 1998
New York Times
Art in Review
Michael Kimmelman
'THE CHOICE'
Exit Art/The First World - 548 Broadway
According to the theory that to find good young artists you should ask older artists what they think, Exit Art has organized this show: 24 artists, most of them novices to the scene (Charles Clough is the exception), were picked by 13 artists. The international selectors included Damien Hirst, Sam Taylor-Wood, Nari Ward, Gottfried Helnwein, Ronald Jones, Cindy Sherman and Kiki Smith.
The results aren't bad. Among what's notable are Iris Andraschek's creepy fish-tank concoctions, picked by Gottfried Helnwein... |
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and Alison Kelly's Gothic landscape photographs, chosen by Nicole Eisenman, who has also given us Suzanne Wright's sculptures of cakes and miniature industrial sites.
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As with a lot of the art here, Ms. Wright's work immediately makes you think of works by a more familiar artist, in her case Michael Ashkin. Likewise, Lisa Petsu Lagunes, who is one of Ida Applebroog's selectees, seems conspicuously beholden to Jessica Stockholder (which isn't a bad thing), and Jonathon Hexner, whom Robert Gober chose, has constructed a house that mixes styles closely related to Red Grooms, Raymond Pettibone and Mr. Gober himself.
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Sometimes you may discern other specific links between the artists in the show and the ones who chose them: between Laurie Simmons's photographs and photographs by Helen Rousakis, whom she picked, for example, or Ms. Sherman's campy costume photographs and the very funny video by David Krueger, who wears a wedding dress, sings French songs and prances around.
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On the other hand, you may just as often wonder what the connection could possibly be. Either way, the show becomes more than just an assemblage of unrelated work because it has the added curiosity of the relationship between the established artists and the new artists, meaning that even when the work isn't good, there is something to think about. If it's not quite a foolproof way to do a group exhibition, it's a strategy for taking the temperature of the moment.
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How about this idea: an artist-curated Biennial at the Whitney?
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'The Choice'
Exit Art/The First World
548 Broadway, near Spring Street SoHo Through Jan. 2 |
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| 18. December 1998 | New York Times | Michael Kimmelman | |
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