Andy Warhol: The Last Decade
Brooklyn Museum: ‘Work of Art: Abdi Farah,’ through Oct. 17. This
however solo exhibition rewards the likable young winner of Bravo’s reality show “Work of Art: The Next Great Artist” and includes works seen in the final episode: paintings, drawings and cast-resin sculptures exploring the black male body by way of Photoshop and academic realism. The earnest awkwardness of the art in this exhibition, and on the “Work of Art” show in general, isn’t that surprising, but it’s nevertheless disappointing. 200 Eastern Parkway, at Prospect Park , (718) 638-5000, brooklynmuseum.org. (Rosenberg)20100826
Brooklyn Museum: ‘Andy Warhol: The Last Decade,’ through Sept. 12. In the 10 years before he died in 1987, Warhol exhibited mostly schlock and looked like a genius in decline. The first attempt by an American museum to deal with his late work reveals the artist tackling painting with a vigor nearly unprecedented in his career, experimenting with techniques, conquering abstraction and making the medium more deeply personal and more reflective of his love of physically making art, as well as his politics, his homosexuality and his religiousness. This show, while almost ridiculously small, is a start. 200 Eastern Parkway, at Prospect Park , (718) 638-5000, brooklynmuseum.org. (Roberta Smith)20100826
Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum: ‘National Design Triennial: Why Design Now?,’ through Jan. 9. The fourth edition of this triennial is the largest yet and the most international in its reach. It is also, hands down, the most ecology-conscious. Design as defined here isn’t about how to make the House Beautiful more beautiful, but about how to keep the globe afloat and give all its occupants access to a healthy patch of it. Reduce, reuse, recycle are the imperatives embodied in the work, which includes a hand-cranked grain thresher made from repurposed materials, a light bulb fueled by dirt, and digital images of a new all-green, no-car city to be built in the desert outside Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The architectural projects included are particularly impressive, and if not every idea in the show is strong, many are already generating winds of change.
