Monday, October 01, 2007

ELLEN BERKENBLIT @ Hilberry

























13 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

yuck. such lame work.

3:02 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I want to say this about the MOCAD show, but this one also.

In New York someone who organizes an exhibition can rely on a certain bedrock experience, and, extending from that, a conditioned [esthetic] response found in such a city.

One of the fascinating things about Detroit is that the work of many of NY artists is being seen locally for the first time.

Obviously the inclusions were influenced by the curator's visits to Detroit, which (as he says) looks very similar to the abandoned industrial areas of the North in his England. And so Detroit's distance from any real arts center can be implicated in such responses.

3:14 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

frank...what does that even mean?

9:03 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Berkenblit's figures look young and naive (& bored?)- not a criticism, just interesting considering the artist is almost 50. there is a caricature quality from several decades ago. makes me wonder what the figures represent to the artist.

anyone who is still painting at 50 is rad in my book. yeah, i said rad.

9:35 AM  
Blogger JSM said...

http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=11871

it seems like frank was trying to steal this guys thoughts.

a mishmash of Higgs comments and Brian Sholis' article in the metrotimes. The comment seems even more trite and disjointed when removed from its original context.

Also, this show looks pretty uninteresting. George condo meets Paul McCarthy's sketches. blah

11:36 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Jeffrey, thanks. People do notice. Yeah it was totally ripped off because Higgs was essentially saying Detroit is a backwater that wouldn't know a Jack Pierson if it hit them in the nutsack. We lack that "conditioned aesthetic response" only found in culturally sophisticated cities like NYC.

I'm fucking sick of this provincial view of Detroit perpetuated by institutions like MOCAD. Get over it. Current art isn't about sophistication. And even if it is, there are plenty of Sophistocats living here. Meow.

11:45 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow, great points. No one could call any of these comments anything but sophisticated, aware, attuned.

12:03 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

what is that sholis article? it reads like a review, describing work and placement, but did brian come to detroit and see the show?

is there no arts writer in detroit who could see the show and talk to the curator?

why is a friend of the curator writing press releases, and getting them published in your newspaper? i hope he didn't get paid for that.

ps - i like birkenblitt.

5:53 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

the gallery that ellen is represented by had this kid working there that became the go btwn. he is from detroit. doesnt matter if he saw it or not, he at least got an email. this is how this game works. friends of curators are of course going to write the press release if there is something to gain from all of it. its like working with what you got, and getting the most you possibly can. rubbing backs, and shaking hands gets people where they want to go. if you want to disclude this and think that the art will get them there and not all the extras, they you will probably grow to be bitter and unexposed.


ps. sholis writes art criticism for a living. of course it is a review.

3:36 PM  
Blogger A.J. WAGENHALS said...

All of this need to compare yourselves to New York City, Get a life!!! Detroit will NEVER hold a candle's ass to New York, especially in the Arts.

And having known and followed Ellen's work, no one who has responded has a clue about Ellen's work!!

It is etherial, ghostly, and discomforting. Totally original, inventive, playful,and dynamic!!

So there!!

A.J. Wagenhals
New York City

12:06 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Beautiful work.......if i ever drew women...they would look like this probably........I first saw her work in a shoe store window in Canada ?? did she design a shoe box or something? I love her work.......interested to see where it goes ........I like seeing the details in the catalog I checked out recently....you can get that ethereal quality more.....
PS you detroiters sound like canadians or something....love where you are and what you have there.....town vs town?? useless.......smaller towns brew all the coolness.... we know that .....then folks got to NY...come on...joy to the world.

9:09 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

All of this need to compare yourselves to New York City, Get a life!!! Detroit will NEVER hold a candle's ass to New York, especially in the Arts.

What I seem to notice is that New Yorkers compare themselves to New York more than anyone else, and that opinions on art are very often influenced by local politics, a hyperawareness of the (stated) opinions of one's neighbors and allies.

It may well be that some New York art is really in a closed dialogue with the culture of New York art, uninterested in universality or transcendence.

4:35 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great painting..

Thanks for sharing..
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Andrew
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4:56 AM  

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