Portland art blog + news + exhibition reviews + galleries + contemporary northwest art

recent entries

2019 1st links
2018 Summary
End of 2018 Links
PNCA + OCAC Merger Off
Loss of Material Evidence at Hoffman Gallery
Hoffman Gallery Changes at Lewis and Clark?
1st Weekend Picks
Meow Wolf The Movie
Giving Thanks Readings
Meet RACC's new leader Madison Cario
November Reviews
Early November Links

recent comments

rosenak
Double J
rosenak

categories

 

Book Review
Calls for Artists
Design Review
Essays
Interviews
News
Openings & Events
Photoblogs
Reviews
Video
Links
About PORT

regular contributors

 

Tori Abernathy
Amy Bernstein
Katherine Bovee
Emily Cappa
Patrick Collier
Arcy Douglass
Megan Driscoll
Jesse Hayward
Sarah Henderson
Jeff Jahn
Kelly Kutchko
Drew Lenihan
Victor Maldonado
Christopher Moon
Jascha Owens
Alex Rauch
Gary Wiseman

archives

 

Guest Contributors
Past Contributors
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005

contact us

 

Contact us

search

 


syndicate

 

Atom
RSS

powered by

 

Movable Type 3.16

This site is licensed under a

 

Creative Commons License

Friday 11.18.11

« Believe in Transmissions | Main | Open Doors and Second Previews »

Kippenberger at PAM

Kippenberger_Pam_sm.jpg
Martin Kippenberger at PAM

I've been very busy lately doing other things on Portland's South Park Blocks so it has really been irking me that I haven't had time to check out the Martin Kippenberger show at the Portland Art Museum. Looks like I finally get the chance today.

All of this is interesting because I don't dig Kippenberger all that much (saw his retrospective at MoMA and liked about 5% of it). Still he's influential, so influential that most MFA programs look like tribute cover bands devoted to Kippenberger. Generally, if I don't like something I try to revisit it as much as possible to understand why the work does or doesn't work... if I come back several times it means it is successful in some way that deserves scrutiny.

The fact that it is here though is a good enough reason to visit PAM, which also has a Chris Burden show up.

Here's what Chief Curator Bruce Guenther says about the Kipster, "Dissuaded of art's power to reveal truth or the possibility of producing original work, he nonetheless produced new important work with a strong political and social content, revealing, as John Lane observed, 'a moralist in despair.' The exhibition features a selection of paintings from the last decade of the artist's life and fourteen 'Hotel Drawings,' intimate works created on hotel stationary gathered on his peripatetic travels from 1987 until 1997. The works present an irreverent and ferocious humor that cumulatively accentuate the late artist's acute sense of moral responsibility to humanity and the history of art."

Look I'll say this, if you like Rock's Box at all... this is a show you have to see if you live in Portland . Through February 19th, but don't wait that long.

Posted by Jeff Jahn on November 18, 2011 at 10:41 | Comments (3)


Comments

Jeff, I have mixed feelings about your being so attentive to work you don't like. I salute you for being open-minded, but at the same time it seems like bowing to "importance", making it self-perpetuating and tyrannical, if that's not too strong a word.

You thankfully don't go quite this far in your comment, but while I'm at it I'll mention that I despise the pervasive idea that if art is confoundingly annoying it must somehow be good, which strikes me as coming from an insecure sensibility combined with a fear of being unfashionable.

Posted by: rosenak [TypeKey Profile Page] at November 18, 2011 01:52 PM

Well that's definitely your imagination at work.

For me revisiting any strong reaction is simply part of the job as a curator and critic. It is just that simple and I like being surprised enough to change my position. Still, an artist's reputation really doesn't factor into how I respond to the work in my midst...at that point Im simply trying to be an attentive viewer... an artist's CV only comes into play when I start to process a show AFTER that experience. Each experience deserves a fresh slate.

Also, Ive never been "annoyed" by Kippenberger either... I simply find him a bit scattershot and sometimes I think that kind of impression has a lot to do with how the work is presented. I've seen a lot of Kippenbergers at art fairs and smaller gallery exhibitions. Those venues can be very scattered and yet I've always liked his paint handling and attitude as a painter. Overall I find I'm less interested in his installations and sculpture. His MoMA show was very repetitive and exhaustively narcissistic in focus and he himself isn't that intriguing.

Still, this show at PAM is tighter with high quality paintings on display... which perhaps confirms a suspicion that with Kippenberger you have to edit a bit to get to the good stuff (the paintings and hotel stationary drawings). Is he my favorite artist... no. Do I prefer Sigmar Polke? yes. Do I like some of the work, absolutely. Would I trade a very good Kippenberger for an OK Basquiat... sure but that's not my job. Im just comparing types, strategies, historical context and experience and by doing it publicly as a critic I try to give people a roadmap of my experience which may be useful or not to others seeking to have an experience with these works.

This is one of the best painting and drawing shows I've seen in Portland for a while... even if Im not in awe of Kippenberger I recognize his strengths on display.

Posted by: Double J [TypeKey Profile Page] at November 18, 2011 07:13 PM

"This is one of the best painting and drawing shows I've seen in Portland for a while..."

I think my imagination might be forgiven for not divining this from your original post.

Posted by: rosenak [TypeKey Profile Page] at November 19, 2011 12:22 AM

Post a comment

Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)


Remember me?


s p o n s o r s
Site Design: Jennifer Armbrust   •   Site Development: Philippe Blanc & Katherine Bovee