8/10/2019 02. David Geers

1/6

Neo-Modern

D

:vr

; '.F RS

111 a ll} p r;\ titi

on

er o r critic inform ed by th e critique of mod

erni

sm , its recent

I \ r l ill

n isi

ir pr

act

ice offers a bewildering pu zzlc. R

ep e

alin g esta blished t

ab

oos

nd hack th e clock, the last few yea rs h ave seen a renewed

in t

erest in

abstructlon . mater ia lity, an d process in ways that , o n the surface, recall th e forma)

1 lcgi .s

01

modernist an a nd its

Minim

alist offshoo ts. In th e United

Stat

es a lo

ne,

111 , w Museum's Unmonumental (2008), th e Kitch en 's Besides,

vVith,

Aga'insl ,

and

}' l.' .H'Mrclr l i fm and the

Read

y-Made Gesture

(2009- 10), the Sculpture Ce nter 's Knight's

M

IYIJt (2010), th e Los Ang e les Co un ty Museum o f Art 's

m ink)' Palermo:

Reir spea ioe

lQ6 IV7 ,

th e

Mu

seum of M

od

ern Art 's

Abstract Expressioni st Neio Yorll

9 I ll- I

I , and a hos t of ga llery s

ho

ws ha ve al1 registered thi s seac

hange,

showcasi

ng

.. 11.: u rgen t concern with abst raction [rom a var ie t y of p

er

spe

ct i

ves,

Whik mau v of th ese a

rt

istic practices and curatorial p roject s d

em

on st rate

rmllpk nn rl nit ical

re l

at i

on

ships to

mode

rn ism , abs trac t ion , and a

uto

nomy,

til

11: is neve r theless a slow g rav it

at

iona l pull , in both pr

odu ct ion

a n d re c

ep

tion ,

iowar

rl

a less reflexive and mo

re

nostalgic a tt itu

de

. In deed, any visit

to

C

he

lsea,

the nwe r Last Sid e o r a n MFA program will yield a p epp erin g of objec ts tb ar

mimi th e fo rm al moves of som e mode rn ist a rt . Wby now? My co nje cture is rhaL

h is n.:\ I\, I1 is a re turn to fo u nda tio ns not unlike similar re turn s during pe r iods of

zrcu anx ie ty and uph eaval. But w

he

reas

th

e raj j el iJ l 'ordre o f t h e 1920s,

for

instance , g';17(>d toward an a ntique figurative tr aditi on , t h e cu rren t turn to th e

lns i '11grasps at m

or

e rec

ent

be d

roc

k.

A per fec t storm of timin g a nd influ

en

ce, th is

em

b

rac

e of mode

rni

st styles is a

'OIW

-r renee

of

several developm ent s. It is, in equal p

art

s, a

ge

ne rational fat igue

with theo rv: a grow i

ng

split b et ween band-mad e a rt istic produ c tion a n d soc ial

p rucri

o

a nd a l

egitimat

e a nd th rifty a ttempt

to

keep

it real in th e [ace ot an

v

r-r-xpa nsivo

im ag'f' cu ltu re and th e slick commodi ty a rt of Koons. Murakami ,

:l rl

oth

e rs. Bur

,

it a lso represelll s a n ostalgi c r

etren

chrnerrt o n th e p

art of an

a rt

wor l I I

h rc

au

-ru-d

by tech nological tr an sforrna t ion

an

d eco

no

mic nn cer t

aint

y th at

n

_w un dr-rm ne

u s

hier

archies and claim s o f cultu ra l p

recede

nce.

AI

th e sa

me

t imr-, todavs app ropriati on of modernist a hs

uac

ti

on

is fa r too ec lect ic to be assoc i

at ed

with

[h

e

m edium -spe cifi c, tel eolo gical f

orm

alism of Cle

me

n t

Gree

n

berg

.

: -it

o-Io rr

na

lism ca n d ra w on a I ange of influen ce s s

pa

nning Co nst r

uct

ivism

to

A

nt

OLIO/} :I I I i .

), Il' ill It I 20 I 2,

1'

4 i f 2012 0((01 M ((

gilV

nfl, u . ru u Ma ss-ub usett-. l1111I1u( I oj

1

;'d u iOIJJg).

8/10/2019 02. David Geers

2/6

10 OCTOBER

Po

ver

a,

but

it most clos ely resembl es A

ction

P

aintin

g in its e

mp

has is

on

p

erf

orma

t.ivc pr

o

du

cti

on

(

rea

d

pr

ocess) an d abs tract f

orm

.

Ino

cul at

ed

with a

do

se of th e

everyday, however, n eo- forrn alism tr affi cs

in

hybridized materials th at affo rd it a ref

e re n t ial base and so insulate it against charges of

pur

e abs tra

ct

ion . Its decor, to o ,

often ca rr ies a payload of gr i tty m at

eri

alism

that

defl ects

an

y accusa tio n o f s

tr

ictly

ae sthe tic claim s. Thus a wo r k by J osh Smith , Dani el H e

sid

e n ce, Al ex Hubb

ar d

,

Th

om as Haseago , Ri

chard

Aldr ich , o r Cedi Sibony

j

ust to n am e a few, might ju

xt

a

po se a m

oderni st

lo

ok with

a m

at erial

p

roces

s ,

cou

n t e r

ba

la n c i

ng

a es the tic

del ectati on with asce tic denial.

N

egat

i

ng

pict

ori

al d

epth with

surface, and co nvent ional r

epr

es

en

t

at i on

with

mat

er i

ality, such

pr

actices a ttem pt

to

circumven t a

fundam ent

ally

unr

eliable and

the

o r e r

ic

al l

y f

orecl

os

ed

im age-w

orld

.

But if

th i s r esurre

cted in t

ere st in

materi

al

experim e n ta tion

and

anti-pi

ctori

al

op

acit y is admirable as a resistance to a per fected

illusi

oni

sm , it also

turns

a blind eye to its

own

co nserva tive t

endenci

es. In c

orp orat

ing

th e receiv

ed

valu es of m

ater i

alism an d co n tex t-sensitivity, t

od

ay's nc

o-formali

sm

ne

v

e rthele ss pursues an art of intuiti ve, aest he t ic

ar

rang ement th at sati sfies th e need for

formal co ntinuities and simple answers during a particul arly co mplex time .

Whil e it p ro pounds a di scourse o f q uotidian m

od

es t an alch emy of th e

eve ry

da

y - neo -fo r

ma

lism in fact

nullifi

es th e spe cificity

and

discursive p

ot

e nr ial

of

its own m at

eri

als and su bsu

mes

th em in a fa

mili

ar m od ernist idi om .' U nlike the

cr iti ca l a pp ro pr ia t ion a rt of th e 1980s, it adva nces a revere ntial man u al re -craft

ing

of

mod ernism

th

at filt

er s its sources th

rou gh

th e

indi vidu

al se nsibility of th e

artist. Less sim ula tion th

an em

ulat ion , neo-f

orrnalism

is in fac t a r est

or

at ive pro

j ect th at may tes t th e limits of yo ur f

aith

in art ,

but

o rilv in o

rde

r to re new it

more rc s

olut

ely.s Actin g like a

modern-d

ay Arc irn

bo

ld o , th e a rt ist s

ha

pes

the

o rdi

nar

y m

att

er

of

t

od

ay

int

o th e fo

rm

al ec

ho

es o f yes te r

day

,

thu

s va lid a t i

ng

th

e

m

od ern

visual

tradition

as an

intrin

sic a nd en d u r i

ng value. :

ln so doin g , neo

fo

rm

alism retreats to a so lipsism

that

, while gu

ar

an

tee

i

ng

im p rovisa to r y fr eed

om

,

also she lte r s th e ar t ist and th e co llector alike in an ech o c

ha

m ber of

art-hi

storical

refere nce and formal free-pl ay. A t

on

ce sh ie ld ed and e

nto

m bed , nco-form alism

remains a pi c torially hut n

ot ope

r

at

io

na

lly resist

ant

ges ture th at is cha racte r ized

by aest he t ic withdrawal a

nd

ratified by an a ll-to o -willing

mark

et.

Rh etori cally su

pporte

d as a sh ift to co ncre teness and a id ed by c

urr

en t th e

1. An alc

he m

ist 0 1th e everyday, Sib o ny makes st ri pped-

do

wn sculptures lh al ma y le

l

lh

e limu

s of

yo

ur

Iauh an . bUI

Ih

ey li also re new

i t .

Ced i Sibo ny, Th N

I 1J)

Yorwl ( May 26, 20

011 ,

p. 16.

' . Ib id.

:

. Se e Sa.uc h i Callerv 's ar t isrs p rofi le for Ced i Sibo ny, n . p. : I n

l

h t

s Tali s Tale.

Sib n uy co nfig

lire, a pa im iu g ' I ron I p last ic sh e e t ing a nd par king t a pe ,

wit

h t he ill cc glllar

8/10/2019 02. David Geers

3/6

11

1 v'. frayed re la t io n to pract ice, n ee-form ali

sm

also reanimates well-worn tropes

runn Li '(' e 'pn: ' 'ion an d ca tha rtic gesture . O

ne

sees

th i

s

espec

ially in th e re turn

of '1

,si nis i pa inting , repl e te wit h a d iscou

rse

of ineffahle and unfett

er

ed ere

atlon nd ,U I .qua llv tr an scend

en

tal su b

jec

t who

does

not re ly o n nostalgia (or]

\ I ~ U l t l

u h

1If' ''

hu

t

Ii

>nTIS

an

elusive s

pace

t

ha

t takes the viewer bey

on

d a d efin

bl langllagc,n

J

Her e- r

he

a

rt

ist once m or e assu

mes

the mantl e

of

an emanc ipa ted

11 nor (:lIId \ thut of em ancip a ted spectators ) , a llowing us to relive a m yth of a

wild , unrn .diated su b

jec

tivity we

lded

i nex t r ica bly to th e

pri

m al m edi

um

of

P ii ll l

- :m i

l l l

i.\ c th. t is pe rhaps co

mfo

rt ing

but

also nost algic an d mystified .

rom a t ruc tu ral persp ective , th is shi ft in foc us from di scour se to subject iv

uv und [r

I I I

re presen ta t ion to t h

ing

co u n ters mo re d em

at

erialized p rac tices such

CO Il f:

pt

uul a nd m

edi

a-b as

ed

wo rk. O ft e n

evok

ing th e m od esty o f eve r yday

nrerial , Ill;' -forrna lism appeals to th e simp licit ies o f a rtis tic lab or, a last bas tion

1I hllfll n i l )'

endangered (yet e n d ur ing ) tactile e ngageme n t

with

m att

er

.

At

t h . arne l ime , nc

o-f

orm

ali sm co

nst

it u

tes

a c

omplem

e

nt

to

th

e r

ein

vigora t

ed

fo 11

per

f nuan ce; indeed , it is o ne part of a dyad in which th e n ever-exr in

gui -ht:d n 't' I tor a

nthropomorphis m

an

d fig

ura

tio n

find

s it s

tran

s

itor

y pl ace on

I

Itt: ullerv aJlti m useum s tage in per form ance art (wi tness th e f

anf

ar e aro und

M, r in n hra rnovi s rece nt re rr o

sp

e cr ivc

The

Artist

Is Present).

Such p opulist

an thr r

m rplrism i

hu

s

of

fe rs u p the b

od

y fo r voye

ur

istic sc rutiny,

whil

e th e

rommcrcinl ~ is s trip ped down to a vag u e, fo rma l ve h icl e , co nve n tiona l

enough I ppcal

to

an equally broad

aud

i

en

ce.

) ('

fa il, in thi s ti m e o f ec o no mic crisis an d p oli tical un c

ert

aint y, mod-

m i.m ruav ullp r tl: closest

thin

g we have to a so lid fo u n da tion-to a classical as

well , u

cr

u ica l

pa

st. Yet, if t

od

ay's

run

to th e Rothko s

imi

t at es mo

de

rn ism's

dlal t ical

na

tu re (its tac tical ca ll-a rid-

re spo

nse

of

o

ne

style to ano the r) in o rd e r

[ f nest th e d ominance o f co ncep t

ua

l and im age-based wo r ks, it a lso d isca rds

rnu rn i rn's

op

positiona l as

pects

. Instead , it p

lun

ders m od

erni

sm 's f

orm

al au rib

III ,

for wha tever char

ge

th ey mi gh t st ill h ol d , tra ffic king equa lly in t

he

shoc king ly

OllJr '. an d th e rnnoni ra lly f

amili

ar.

i pa in t in g by J osh Sm ith , fo r in st

an

ce , coy ly pl ays with Expressio nist

trop

es

l1lug led ill u iu le r the rubri c o f reproduci

bilit

y;

eac

h mark

fun

cti on s as bo th

autheutic rure an d co py, a t once full of h yp

erb

oli c displ ay an d em pty o f se nt i

ment. Ve l. pus d ,'g ains t n o h eg

emoni

c

rea

lism and co ns u

me

d

for

its aest

he

tic

pp .;d , M:I 11 wo rk sim ply tr affics in familiar cl iches of art istic inn ocen ce. Suc h

innoc n e . suppo

rt e

d by Sm

ith

's own

pr

osaic a rticulation

of

hi s

pr

a

ctic

e , h as lo ng

I Pre 5 n ' In ' Dan ie-l He>lden, e ', An/mean /]lIfj 1I0, D A rnelio Tcrras C IIe, )'. 2010 , n p.:

-J wo rk

V;

.

1I Fo r

bOI

h

P,l)IlICr

a nd

viewer, 1

hese

works embody a

ila li

,) Ih l

u nabash ed ly

{1 ., , he: MnSt .

8/10/2019 02. David Geers

4/6

OCTOBE

R

1) (:c lI the stuff of mod

erni

sm 's em

brace

o f th e pri mitive , the in f

anti

le, and t he sav

S

ma

ll

wonder,

th

en

, th at h is

abs

t

ractio

ns

an

d

pa i

n ti

ngs of

fish , leaves, a

nd

his

own end lessly and d ecor

ou

sly rearran ged Dame wo uld fin d such a m arket in an

era m

ar

ked by anxio us r

et

rospecti on .

Such a proj ect rep resents a cyn ical m

od

e] for a co n tem po ra ry p ract ice tha t

l IOW

searc

hes for lo o

ph

ol es a nd blind spots in a co nstant h edgin g of be ts. In

e ffec t, i t allows the

ar t

ist an d the collecto r to h ave it bo th ways- t he lux

ury

of ae s

thet ic p leas ure a nd i ts si m u l ta n e o us di sa vo wal. You

nger

a rt ists e xp lo it th is

ambiguo us ter rain , too ,

ac ting

as

un

witting champ io ns in today's vers ion of th e

re tu

rn

to th e

craf

l. 'i A p r oc

ess

-based re

sin

p

ain

tin g by

Alex Hubh

a rrl , fo r

instance, ca n echo de Kooning , Rothko , o r Ta

pie

s, all

of

wh om are

agg

ra nrlize d in

a youthful updat e. Meanwhile, a silver-dipped p ainting hy J acob Kassay reinv

ent

s

th e Co ns tructiv ist a nd Minimalist rn onoc h ro rn e as a prod

uct

of

rh e (now ant i

q uared ) ph o tographic pro cess, bu t also recast s it as a sump tua ry wa ll han

gin

g th at

vain ly m ir ro r s the liken ess o f i ts

pos

sessor.

In thi s way, nee -f

orm

alism ex h u mes a nd reco mbi nes form

er l

y revolut i

on

ar y

mo

de ls-Con st

ruc

tivism , Abs tract

Expres

sion ism , Arte Povera , Mini malism ,

et

c.- bnt

in so do ing fails to grasp n ew

soc

ial an d cultur al con figu ra tions tha t call fo r di fferent

stra teg ies a ltoge ther. n stark co ntrast, deve lopments in tech nology, the In tern et ,

aud socia l m

edi

a have

help

ed to mo bilize ac t

ua

l revo lu tions like th e

Ara

b Spri

ng

and

now th e O c

cupy ' Vall Stree t m ov

ement

, wh ile th e an world is st ill tr ying to co n ne ct

an emanr ipa tory rhe toric to an econo my of luxury goods. To obviate such im passes

an d vulgar co nce rns, nco-f

or

malism re treats to th e aura of the

object

and to its hal

lowed r

estin

g place in mod ernist a bstrac tion.

H owever, unlike mod

erni

sm 's form er cha m p ions, toclay's ar tists, cr it ics , and

salespeople o ften str uggle fo r a lan gu ag e to di scuss su ch pr actices. In stead th ey

fall bac k o n th e old ma

nt

r a of p rocess - no t becau se th e work arrests lan gu age

o r transc

end

s pos itivist

concept

io ns , as is o fte n cl aim e d , but beca use, in th e

absence of th e lo fty (ye t critical) di sc

ou

r se

tha

t f

uele

d much o f m odernism , th ere

is so little to discuss exce

pt

p rocess. T his un mo

or

ed rheto ric fin ds it self refl ect ed

in art sch

ools

as we ll. A visi t to an MFA program today will reveal a p le thora of

slacker abstrac tio ns th at channe l any

on

e and eve ryo ne fro m Richar d Tu ttle to

Mich ael Krebber. Wh en que ried

abo

u t the cr itica l stakes o r guid ing

pr i

nciples of

such a p rac tice , th e studen t repea ts th e lan gu age o f th e press rel eases: Wel], it 's

really intui rive.

ju

st

thin

kin g abo u t mater i als a nd process. Su ch my

opi

a , horn of

:J I n

T

h e

Retu

rn to th

e-

Cr af t' (

1920L

G lo rg-io

de

Ch irico ur ge ,

, I i r-unn

to c

lassrcal

nad

iu o u

,diel

a

,I al( '

o f

av.uu- ga

rde h yste: ia :

Wi t

h [h e su

nse

t

ol h ) Slerid mor

e

t han

o ne pai nter will re t

urn

lO i h e r ra lt , a m l those w

ho

h ave a lread y d o

ne

so ca n wo r k

wi t

h

(i

ce r

ha

nd s, an d th

eir

O J k Will h

ruo r

.1d '1'd,lk ly I

(o

g

nv.ed

,m el n-

co

mpr-ns

ed .

SC

e Ch .

nles H,

I)I ivon an d Pa u l Woo d. eds . ; \,.,

n

1

t

9 l

1 J1)()

Oxfo rd: Blackwe ll

b l i ~ h e

Pl 234 -:-17. II

i,

a lso

10 n

ot

e i hat

8/10/2019 02. David Geers

5/6

13

the r

ti J

l rcclosures and a ge n

era

l se nse of d

efeati

sm (o ne stu

den

t rec

entl

y

r

ema

rked, "How do vou c

omp

ete wit h Avatar? ), also signa ls a with d rawa l, a back

r i-basi mcn ta lh.y. In thi s re trea r, m

oderni

sm of

fers

a pr

oud

, lo ng-un claimed

ih,u ,1.11

now be surfed , co llage d, an d

artf

ully arranged into qu asi-un

cann

y

v l ~ j

I

II'

'il l

in form yet co m pl

acen

t in spirit.

l{

danger h

er

r is less th at th is ar t pr

om

ot e s an illusory au tono my or cynically

l n l ' I , I ihe market. th an tha t it reveals th e discour se of ar t as n ow co nsisti

ng

of

I I

LlLi

n hu t

t

Iw mark

I..

Nee dless to say, th e co llecting class, largely u nexposed to the

i ique

J mud rnism and still d riven by

hum

ani stic myths of crea tion, ce lebra tes

.1lI ' ,. 1 rrn lo the promise of an a

uto

no

mo

us , self-possessed mak

er

yield

ing

highly

. I: lb

.ticized P oducts

th rou

gh m ostly

intuiti

ve m

ean

s. For thi s

gene

ra lly o lde r

tf rntlgr;'lph ic,

th return to mod

erni

sm is p

er

ceived as co mbining t

he

street

er

ed of a

'O l

inge r

p; n Till ion with a vetted in

of f

ensiven ess tha t closely ec

hoes

t

he

class ics of

III

past cemur y.

So

a

Th

omas Houseage sculpture may invoke th e

prim

itivist.heroics

fP i a . , h ilc a "lace painting" by Mark Grotjann can ec ho KJee ox P

ou

sset te-D

art

Lest

11(;

lx-lieve that a wor k's implicit criticality were sufficien t to

undo

, co n

'vert , 0 1 m l . C . this mentality, an y visi t to a co llec tion will reveal th e

na

ivete of such

lhinklt

lj.\

. till motivated

by

aes thetic ap

pea

l, market value, and the de

cor

at ive place

IJ it work

111

the horne, most co llec tors in fact see m un mov

ed

or impervious to a

1\11

I

.r itical ge'itu res, while arti sts a re often t

orn

between p

er

s

on

al po litics and

omn rcial I ITSiIlI'(,.

The

two pa rties

thu

s e

ngage

in

8/10/2019 02. David Geers

6/6

4

OCTOBER

heigh ten ed fascination with ce lebrity (i.e.ijames Fra nco's newfound legitimacy as

an art ist), a nd th e Oscar-inspired Art Awards th at starte d as a gag by Rob Pr uitt

bur

have now been tran sformed into a legitimate award ce re mony.

Th

e neo - rrnalism crowding t

oda

y's MFA pro

gr

ams , ga lle ries , mu s

eum

s,

and art fairs is

both

th e os tensible an

tag

onist

of

thi s dev

elopment

and its rea

ction

formati

on

.

It

may ap

pe

a r to deny a p e

rf

ect

ed

spe

cta

cle, but it is

teth er

ed to it as by

an umbilical cord.v Les t on e mistake it f

or

th e auto no mo us art once championed

by Adorn o ,

th

is work se l

do

m aspires to address the ge neralized aliena tion th at

would re

sult

in a

ges

tu re of r

efu

sal , n

or is

it r

efu

sed by a literalist audience in

search of simple r things. R

ath

er, it gree ts a

pr

e-primed spe ctator, a lready indoctri

nated into th e co des and myth ologies of th e m od er n , who happ ily welco mes it as a

return to old certaint ies n ec ho of a lost go lde n age.

Ii. A, Cle me n t (; reelllw rg t,un ou ,l) \I

.ro t

e .

No

cu ltur e ca n d evelop wuho ut a soc ia l basis, wirho iu a

i l li

T e.'

of ' ldbk i

ncome

. And il l {he case o f th c avaru-garrie , th is as provid ed by a n eli te a m

ouu

lhe

rulin

g c l.rss o f ih ,

>ocin y

I

rom

whi ch

i l

assu

me

d

itself

to be cut

o ff,

bu t

10

wh ic h

il hI h ,I '

.u t

achcd

bv an

umbil

ical co rd of go ld :'

See

Avan t-C

arde

and Kitsch (19:19), in

Ih l iii

o }

/ 9f) 119 11i. p. ;\.