The jurors' penchant for fair critters
Nine judges, including several museum curators, picked the
however 413 pieces on display -- paintings, photos, sculpture and six other categories including jewelry, a new genre -- from 2,157 entries. Without seeing the rejects, it's impossible to know how ably they did their job, but an experienced eye will tell you that many Twin Cities galleries regularly display more dynamic, original and engaging items. The judges' choices are big on cute and cozy stuff -- kids and barnyard animals, drowsy landscapes, boating interludes, pictures of fish, flowers and veggies. These noble and much-loved themes are best sampled with restraint. Rounding a corner and finding a whole wall of Holstein cows and Hampshire hogs is a bit much, even for fans of black-and-white, cross-species design.
The jurors' penchant for fair critters and scenes may well mirror the preoccupations of the entrants, but the result is a clichéd and condescending exhibit. Surely the Robbinsdale artist who called himself Mr. Cow was testing the judges when he submitted "Friends," a posterish painting of a grinning Chester White in sunglasses nosing up to a worm, also wearing shades, perched on a purple rock watched by a bluebird in a sunlit meadow under puffy lavender clouds.
Perhaps that sweetie merited its "honorable mention" as a satire on fair art, but cute jokes about silly art still occupy space that could have been taken by good art. Ditto for Kate Renee Johnson's big pink hippo sticking out its turquoise tongue.
阅读(191) | 评论(0) | 转发(0) |
