~LISA YUSKAVAGE: THE BROOD & shout out: LANDON MORGAN !!
also at CAM !!!
‘LISA YUSKAVAGE: THE BROOD’
JAN 15 – APRIL 2, 2016
CAM / CONTEMPORARY ART MUSEUM ST.LOUIS
@camstl
one of my very fave artists, right at the top.
among her gender, if we have to break it down . . . and, time it: right up there with KARA WALKER.
I consider CINDY SHERMAN, the generation – preceding.
LISA YUSKAVAGE . . was born in Philadelphia in 1962, and is NYC-based.
from the CAM mission statement:
this show . . “is not so much a comprehensive survey as it is a thorough account of YUSKAVAGE’S development & identity as an artist.”
‘LISA YUSKAVAGE: THE BROOD’ . . is curated by CHRISTOPHER BEDFORD, Henry & Lois Foster Director of the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University & organized for the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis by JEFFREY USLIP, chief curator.
read more & see more images: ‘LISA YUSKAVAGE: THE BROOD’ – CAM
LISA YUSKAVAGE, ‘TRIPTYCH’, 2010-2011, oil on linen, 77-1/4 x 210-3/8 x 1-1/2 in. / each: 70-1/2 x 77-1/4 in.
Collection: LIZ & ERIC LEFKOFSKY
IMAGE: screen grab off … CAM
LISA YUSKAVAGE, ‘Brood’, 2005-06, oil on linen, 79-3/4 x 70 in.
Collection: JEFFREY A. ALTMAN
IMAGE: is slightly cropped & via screen grab off … CAM
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH, Sat Jan 16, 2016. N.J.
card for: ‘LISA YUSKAVAGE’, September 27 through November 5, 2011 / David Zwirner, 519 West 19th Street, NYC.
the image is: ‘Triptych’, 2011 (detail), oil on linen, Triptych, Each: 70-1/8 x 77-1/4 inches
the card itself is hard stock and measures 8 x 8-1/4 in.
this is the original . . invite card for Lisa’s 2011 show at DAVID ZWIRNER.
as you can see, it still sits on my desk, and that includes one major move !!
besides the fact that it looks like it was slightly ‘photo-shopped’, between the legs, lol in the CAM pr !!
this image represents so much that I love, including how brave it is !!
plus: folk art & history, composition. landscape imbued with artistic power, color theory. graphics. narrative etc etc. and obviously it’s still ringing, and THRILLING – with .. that key moniker: RELEVANCE.
and, her sister . . DYNAMICS.
but, it has an even more personal significance, or if you will . . . code (!!) – for me.
sis-tah !! keep them eyeballs . . open !!
and, free your soul !!
I didn’t get Lisa’s work for a long long time.
I thought it was way too kitschy, and cutie pie. wrong.
when I walked into this show in the Fall of 2011 – I was dumbstruck. it was like a big samurai sword crashed through my whole body, starting at the top of my head, and split me – in half.
I think they call that a eureka moment.
the bigger the mistake, the harder the fall ?
so, it reminds me of 2 things:
1. in art, NOTHING. nothing – is written in stone.
2. and keep your eyes – open. push past your ‘zones’.
I also find the show relevant – on a few more levels, at this very EXACT point in time – on the underground art scene.
I’m talking about the resurgence of strong, figurative, in-your-face young female artists, on the current, and very popping !! street scene.
name two: murrz & goatbunny !!
with their outrageous femme/wicked kitty/food stickers. very femme, but totally . . KILLAH.
keep those peepers – open !!
at the same time, it’s also interesting to consider how nudity – in general has vanished from the contemporary art scene.
ok, maybe young Harlem scene queen JORDAN CASTELL references nudity, but it’s not exactly the ‘playboy’ pop-up kind. and its: male. (mostly).
and psychological in nature.
in the street art mural / translate graffiti scene . . nudity is a big no no, I guess because that would be, and rightfully so !! – crossing the line – re what the public would tolerate.
but on the smaller. more intimate art scene, such as the world of tattoos, obviously – nudity reigns as ever. and it has many super chic faces too. as well as classic.
but watch out – it’s creeping in closer, to the art world in general – again.
I’m thinking about the sweet spot – where tattoo artists and street artists collide, as in the recent ‘TAT IT UP’ curated by MURRZ & ZROPRO at GRUMPY BERT, in Brooklyn.
specially: the water tower of . . tattoo artist LANDON MORGAN !!
and within that genre – there is also a strange, but very apparent, and very BIG esp on IG – resurgence of a very, very classic Japanese art form: bondage !!
who would – guess ?!!
lol. THE BROOD – THE BREEDERS vs THE BONDAGE MASTERS !!
LISA YUSKAVAGE to LANDON MORGAN . . in a flipped-out, in-your-face – nutshell battle of the ‘naked’ !!
LANDON MORGAN, detail, Boundless Brooklyn water tower kit, hand painted, 2016.
in ‘TAT IT UP’, GRUMPY BERT, Brooklyn. Jan 8 – Jan 31, 2016.
THAT BEING – SAID !!
I HOPE THE CAM show on LISA Y . . includes some of her newer paintigs , which includes some very far-out images, esp of ‘wizard / guys’ – that were featured in her most recent show at David Zwirner, that ran APRIL 23 – June 13, 2015.
check it out here: LISA YUSKAVAGE – DAVID ZWIRNER
in terms of the current street scene & yes, . . . even – bondage !!
these airy, fairy paintings of Yuskavage become even more relevant, and are super interesting, and more easily understood for their vivaciousness, and in fact, their TOTALITY: of content, narrative, context. yes: vision !! and painterly / formal issues — within a contrasting dialog, and a new scene of ‘illustrative’ . . pop art dreamers, painters & . . stickers !!
Go forth young collectors, and . . pick your magic !!
it’s out there, big time.
LISA YUSKAVAGE, ‘HIPPIES’, 2013. oil on linen, 82-1/4 x 66-1/2 in.
PHOTO: via DAVID ZWIRNER