KOONS

"sausage fest" is a good description for it. The Village Voice used this phrase to describe "Skin Fruit," the Jeff Koons curated show of Dakis Joannou's art collection at the new museum. The preoccupation with shock/disgust/perversion and the ever present phallus felt inauthentic, unoriginal and just plan creepy. The Village Voice, the Times, along with the art community in general, have completely panned this blatant display of art speculating. The showing of a private collection in a museum (that plays an undeniable role in setting the canon) leverages the value of the collection and perpetuates the belligerent, bloated art market. although the idea of opening up the opaque world of contemporary art collecting is, in theory, a democratic concept, the reality is the value of Joannou's collection just doubled. also if making a private collection public was the intention, why can't I take pictures douchebag!

 Paul McCarthy's Boink fest

 Here are my notes:
-Absurd and Ironic to the point of nihilism, which is ok, but felt too worked/trying too hard/sad
-I don't like Chris Ofili, sorry, just don't
-Although the collection includes artist I like and admire, Richard Prince, Kiki Smith, Matthew Barney, Urs Fischer, Mike Kelley,  I found their pieces to be disappointing and for me, not their best works.
-I DID LIKE: Cindy Sherman, Jenny Holzer, Tauba Auerbach, Tim Noble and Sue Webster's "Masters of the Universe," (the cave couple encircled by the art space, frozen mid stride) and Cady Noland's "Bluewald" (see below)

Its fairly impossible to say anything new about this show so here are some quote I find to be the most illuminating:

" "Skin Fruit" is totally the wrong show for our times in just about every possible way. An exhibition of million-dollar works curated by a celebrity artist inside a museum that was, until only recently, a haven for underdog art, the ensuing display can't help but look as mean (and irrelevant) as a rack of opera minks hung out under the Darfur sun."-village voice review

"With an ever-present warm smile and the comforting tones of a guidance counselor, he has spoken about how art 'lets you kind of control physiology and the secretions that take place within the body,' how his art operates in 'a morality theater trying to help the underdog,' how his balloon-based sculptures, at least sexually speaking, 'really try to address whatever your interests are.' "

- Randy Kennedy Times Article on Jeff Koons

"Depending on your point of view this exhibition may or may not have an air of complicity, but it definitely has the look of complacency." - Roberta Smith's times review