The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
New Langton Arts
San Francisco, CA
18 January – 24 February

works by: Robert Bordo, Charline von Heyl, Rebecca Morris, Avery Preesman, Annabeth Rosen, Amy Sillman, and John Zurier

Review by Tonya Warner

The PR for “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly” claims it features challenges to abstract painting predecessors, as well as a mixing of a “gritty street-smart aesthetic” with the attraction of a “modernist ideality.” So, naturally I walked into the show with my mind already musing over the ambivalence I feel towards modernism and modern abstraction. It is a period in art history that relied heavily on both the validations of the art establishment as well as a belief in meta-narratives. Behind the non-representational shapes and lines there lurked grand concepts that could not adequately be expressed through realism; such abstraction was upheld by a conceptual framework that was only at times explicit. Now, whether by “ideality” those at New Langton Arts mean the dream of the ideal, or an existence in idea only, it is unclear, however, it is hard to see either in the works on show. One could, I suppose, argue that these works are a contemporary update of Abstract Expressionism, however, it is not obvious what these works may be expressing beyond an interest in form and colour; many of the pieces on display appear more as ruminations upon the physicality of paint and the act of painting than a manifestation of personal beliefs – in short, they seem a bit soulless. For example, Rebecca Morris’s “Untitled” features thick, grey, wrinkled ovals of paint floating over a sea of neon pink – pretty, although one wonders whether this use of texture and colour is what is supposed to make this work “gritty” and “street-smart;” I am not so sure.

For artists concerned with abstraction, there seems to be a surprising lack of attention to composition throughout the show. Amy Sillman’s “Big Girl,” the most interesting painting in the group, features architectonic lines jutting across the canvas in notably de Kooning-like brush strokes, but yet it is so busy, the whole thing comes across as a visual jumble. The works in this show actually make me yearn for real modernist minimalism – where volumes could be said in a few simple lines or shapes, where spaces are left open for the viewer to add his/her own experiences, thoughts, and interpretations.

The only work here that I truly did like, however, were the sculptures by Annabeth Rosen – the only non-paintings in the exhibit – which were two spheres of intertwined pseudo-organic forms and a third piece which looks like a pile of large firecrackers. The latter work, entitled “Bundle,” a combination of ceramic and paper, proved to be not only visually interesting, inviting one to walk around and see it at all angles, but a nice modulation of its surrounding space. Rosen’s three pieces proved to be the only part of this show that is able to not only hold together in visual coherence but hold one’s attention. As for the rest, well, they got two-thirds of the show’s title right.

http://www.newlangtonarts.org/