Whitney Museum Visit

By dp1244 on Day 1, March 2010

My girlfriend and I disregarded the terrible storm and our general illness and trooped it over to the Whitney Museum.  There were many exhibits.  Some were terrible. Some were amazing.  Here were my 3 favorites:

1.  Watermelon Woman – Cheryl Dunye

I was captivated by this piece.  The piece included a large collection of photos from a career that never existed.  Cheryl Dunye created a fictional black lesbian actress named Fae Richards, who was wiped away from Hollywood’s memory and proceeded to make a film and a collection of historically accurate photos to chronicle her life.  I’m a huge fan of film, art, narrative, subversive material and alternative reality.  It was very rich with details, including photos of unknown friends and candid photos from throughout her life.  What excited me the most is the hope that younger generations will look at it and not realize it is fictitious.  I think the world would be better for it.

2.  Lee Bontecou – Untitled

There was one piece that stood out as one of the Coolest Things I’ve Ever Seen!  It looks like Steampunk Volcano Park. The artist in question stopped showing new work for 20 years from 71-91, which would seriously mess me up, personally.  I think the piece in question was during her ‘stasis’ period, but according to the internet it was made in 1961.  This is the best picture I can find.

3.  Master of the Universe/Flexmaster 3000 – Aurel Schmidt

Sadly, this had nothing to do with He-Man.  This richly detailed work is at once captivating.  The veins are all cigarette butts or earthworms.  I’ll forgive the explanation that it is the embodiment of creation and destruction and focus on his use of our everyday detritus as the building blocks for his minotaur.  Frakking genius.

March 14th, 2010