Pattern and Decoration has been called “simply bad abstraction”. Times change. This 1970’s movement now has its first scholarly museum show with this notable critic commenting that the work “no longer appears frivolous”. Yet another sign that fine art’s claim to being superior to the decorative arts is failing.
Some artists – just a few – seem endlessly innovative. Michals is one. He was never attracted to the photography of objective story telling, à la Life magazine. His work is almost the opposite – staged sequences, handwriting on his images, manipulated images. In so doing he has expanded what photography can be. As the curator expresses it “Duane cut photography’s umbilical cord”.
Hopper liked to travel. Once successful as an artist, he and his wife began taking road trips. Some hotels they stayed at ended up in his art. And why not? Empty hotel rooms have an air of loneliness, something that would have been obvious to Hopper, a loner. What better a subject for his detached, “empty” compositions, where he could lay out “the truth of a scene”. What remains elusive though, is which truth?
In a landmark moment, New York’s Met is holding an exhibition of native American art. Good news, right? Well, not according to this writer who argues that this “deeply depressing” show fails to present objects in their cultural context. Others suggest that many items, being ceremonial, are not even art. The Met protests that it consulted widely on the show but is now moving to hire a curator specialized in this area.