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Frank Stella
Locks Gallery : 600 Washington Sq. South |
Warning: Don't go see this
exhibition with a headache. Frank Stella is one of the few artists
of his stature still around today. Bridging four decades since he
first emerged on the New York scene in 1959, he became one of the
big guys, a fixture of late Twentieth Century Art. His mythic history
as the so-called "father of minimalism" may be an exaggeration
but his dedication to abstraction is not. The recent show at Locks
is a tour de force of a sort that one rarely sees. Is he trying
too hard with this level of production? Is he missing the mark?
Surely, for some. This is not subtle art. Nor is it particularly
sensitive art. This is art world art. Though, there are many Frank
Stellas to choose from (pick a decade), the one seen here is truly
trying to remain up to date and it is difficult to lump him in with
other old timers. That much is successful. Although the modernist
ethic remains intact, pushing the limits etc. Here the rulebook
is completely contemporary, frenetic and explosive. He refuses to
repeat himself and he definitely takes the ball and runs with it.
The "big boot"sculpture and architectural relief forms
installed are impressive if only by sheer weight, however, the powerful
part of this show is the two dimensional work which, at times, is
not only hard to view but difficult to get any perspective on. Some
are half-hidden behind movable walls and the installed sculpture.
Standing close, one gets lost in the making of this work, the layers
of plastic form, pieces of machine made computer generated doodle,
map-like shapes and distorted grid. The complexity of these collaged
pieces is almost too much to take in. Similar to his earlier cut-outs
of the seventies, these pieces seem to overlap to infinity but then
are somehow ironed down. One piece cannot be distinguished from
another. The tension comes from not just from the complexity and
day glow assault on the eye, but the insistant abstraction battling
with our need to recognize something or feel some empathy toward
the work. In another sense, these are merely huge designs without
any normal purpose. Such is art and this seems "contemporary"
again. They push us away and don't allow engagement in the ordinary
sense. Has Frank Stella gone full circle? No, he simply hasn't finished
yet.
ŠJames Rosenthal October 2000 |
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