what to see: a great museum show you might miss
As the holiday season approaches, you may find yourself with a couple extra hours on a random, chilly day. I’d recommend using that downtime for a couple museum pop-ins. Below are some of the shows that left a mark on me this season - the works that made me slow down and look more closely, while simultaneously jump up and down with glee.
barkley l. hendricks: portraits at the frick
closing January 7th
Barkley’s paintings have the capacity to stop you in your tracks. “Beginning in the late 1960s, his work drew from and challenged traditions of European art, and The Frick Collection—with its iconic portraits by Rembrandt, Bronzino, Van Dyck, and others—was one of his favorite museums.”
This show is a must-see. Bask in the radical elegance of Barkley’s stunning portraiture and impeccable fashion at the Frick.
ed ruscha’s “now then” at moma
closing January 14th
“If you think you hate conceptual art, see this show. Chances are you hate bad conceptual art. Ruscha made drawings using gunpowder and paintings of maple syrup and beans, but few image-makers have so rarely lapsed into gimmickry, and even fewer have got such consistent laughs.”1
“I don’t have any Seine River like Monet,” Ed Ruscha once said. “I’ve just got US 66 between Oklahoma and Los Angeles.”
ruth asawa ‘through line' at the whitney museum
closing January 15
Although widely recognized for her wire sculptures, Asawa drew daily.
Her religious dedication to drawing is both thrilling and soothing. She exposes what most of us would dismiss as ordinary. Persimmons, a leaf, a fish, potatoes. Her intricate line work is mesmerizing. Find a moment of quietude and spend some time getting lost in the details of Asawa’s personal practice.
henry taylor b side at the whitney museum
closing January 28th
Henry is an eccentric, free-flowing, vibrant painter. He paints what he feels. It’s raw, it’s fast, it’s intimate.
Painting everyone from “family members, friends, neighbors, celebrities, politicians, and strangers…His improvisational approach to art making is hinted at in this exhibition’s title, Henry Taylor: B Side, which refers to the side of a record album that often contains lesser-known, more experimental songs.”2
judy chicago “herstory” at the new museum
closing march 3rd
Some of us have experienced Judy Chicago’s monumental installation “The Dinner Party”, which currently resides at the Brooklyn Museum. Witness the full breadth of Judy Chicago’s practice at the New Museum before it closes. Spanning over 60 years, this is the first show that examines the full arc of Judy’s art and process.
“It’s a big show, full of big art and big gestures: early, hefty experiments in minimalist painting and sculpture; canvases filled with floral, vulvar imagery; trippy tapestries; and more.”3
The fourth floor of the museum is a special treat. I could easily spend another hour or two getting lost in the artworks and archival materials presented in this “exhibition within the exhibition”. Titled “The City of Ladies” and described as Chicago’s “personal museum,” it is a careful and meticulous curation of over eighty artists, writers, and thinkers.
Finally, check out my previous post on Going Dark at the Guggenhiem which is up through April 7th
xx,
Dalal
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/10/09/ed-ruscha-now-then-art-review
https://whitney.org/exhibitions/henry-taylor
https://www.vulture.com/article/judy-chicago-herstory-new-museum-review.html