I’ve heard quite a lot about this young artist. My contemporaries in St. Louis describe him as “Pollack meets Falling Man.” After spending a considerable amount of time with “Paper or Plastic?” I’m not so sure I agree. In fact, I’m quite certain I don’t. Where Pollack was slave to eruptions of spontaneity, N’s work is wonderfully deliberate. Even the hair has meaning: the perfectly coiffed golden wave adorned with shiny tape (sculpting gel, perhaps?) informs the viewer that this is not Obama’s everyman: this is Rush’s small government, tax-break Titan who can’t be bothered with so-called “Change.” His limbs evoke the red stripes of Old Glory; externally, we’ve got ourselves a Patriot. Yet like so many “ditto-heads”, there’s a storm brewing inside. N’s violent brush strokes and unsettling color palette depict a man at war with himself -- trying desperately to follow the path as prescribed yet longing to disappear into the welcoming thicket. And that my friends, is the no-spin zone.
Mon Dieu! In a quiet cemetery at no. 47 rue du Montparnesse, Edouard Jaguer is rolling over in his grave. Your review of N’s “Paper or Plastic” was, for you, typically tepid, vacuous, and off the mark. Only a maroon such as yourself could confuse a majestic piece of searing surrealism with run of the mill abstract expressionalism. Droll commentary such as yours and comparisons of the clearly talented N to the American Dribbler -Pollack- are the hackneyed dominion of charlatans. Good sir, I do believe that you wouldn’t know an Ernst from a Kandinsky! This review (and don’t get me started on the insipid horsefeathers you spewed about G’s “Cereal”) shines a light on your limited frame of reference and begs the question, have you any idea what you’re doing?
ReplyDeleteDear "Anonymous":
ReplyDeleteA courageous reply, albeit a bit, est-ce que tallez-vous, "French?". Yes, that will suffice. May I remind you while Pollack was at the height of his "dribbling", we were busy securing your country's freedom so that imposters like yourself could pursue careers as loutists in paint-smeared horizontal striped shirts doubling as artistes. Have another latte, Jacques. You are too talented for this world, clearly. Quelle horreur!
P.S. I have nothing against the French.
ReplyDeleteOh, SNAP!
ReplyDeleteSNAP is good, no? Yes, I believe SNAP is indeed good. If it is, thank you. Or SNAP you.
ReplyDeletewhat is a "maroon?" does anonymous have something against deep reds?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous: are you two people or multiple personalities? What a delicious sidebar is developing!
ReplyDeleteperhaps both. all of us finding it "delicious" that anonymous, in an attempt to point out your ineptitude, managed to call you a deep shade of red. perhaps the maroon of which he speaks now conjures up memories of his faux pas, the eventual color of his cheeks, the glass of burgandy he uses to forget...
ReplyDeleteOK "Anonymous", or, shall I say "Wannabe Anonymous?" -- enough of your blather. As if it is not bad enough that you steal my nom de plume -- you butcher my cogent criticism of hack's attempt to interpret a genius work of art. Another visionary by the name of Yosemite Sam used the word "maroon" as a clever euphemism for "moron" -- a word you are most certainly familiar (see mirror). Yow!
ReplyDeleteExciting!
ReplyDeleteOK Wannabe, let's do this. I'm sick and tired of your armchair quarterbacking. I challenge thee to critque-off. That's right, you and me, mano a mano...let's let the vast on-line community following this be the judge and jury. If the master could please select a piece, WA and I can give it our best shot at guest reviewing. Let the people decide! I did not want it to come to this.
ReplyDeleteIf both Anons agree, I will indeed post said art. No softballs. Expect a rich, textured and controversial piece. I would assume both of you would settle for no less.
ReplyDelete