December 18, 2004
2004 top sixteen list
In response to Tyler Green's post at Modern Art Notes calling for lists compiling top exhibitions, I'm posting a Top 16 "anything goes"-type list. In no particular order, here are sixteen exhibitions, essays, albums, and films that won me over in 2004.
- William Gass, "On evil: the ragged core of a sweet apple," Harper's, January 2004. My best friend pointed this essay out to me not long after it was published in January, and I've re-read it almost monthly since.
- Matthew Greene, "she who casts the darkest shadow on our dreams", peres projects, Los Angeles. I had the pleasure of meeting Matthew in New York in January, working with him in Paris in June, and being duly impressed by his solo debut at peres projects in Los Angeles on Halloween weekend. Instead of exhibiting minor variations on the paintings that brought him attention in galleries and at art fairs throughout the year, he chose to push forward and exhibit works that indicate the breadth of the fields he is exploring. Click here for a brief review I published on Artforum.com in November.
- Kai Althoff, "Kai Kein Respekt," ICA Boston and MCA Chicago. I first visited Althoff's gesamtkunstwerk in June in Boston; I made a pilgrimmage, and brought a friend, in August. I've since seen the show twice in Chicago and will see it a third time next week. It's likely that there will never be another US survey of his work, and I am glad to have bathed in the aura of his singular vision five times. One of the top five solo exhibitions I have seen since I began to look closely at art. Click here for a brief review I published in June on Artforum.com.
- Anne M. Wagner, "Splitting and Doubling: Gordon Matta-Clark and the Body of Sculpture," Grey Room 14, Winter 2004. This essay, along with David Zwirner's presentation of "Bingo" this past spring, renewed the interest in Gordon Matta-Clark that led me (in 2002) to watch consecutively every film and video he ever made. The essay is a pitch-perfect example of strong academic art historical scholarship: measured, logical, thought-provoking, and even willing to throw a few elbows at other scholars. I respect anyone whose attention span allows them to focus on a single subject for so long; I respect even more those who inspire me to attempt to do the same.
- Tim Hecker, "Mirages," alien8recordings. This is Hecker's third full-length record presented under his own name. "Haunt Me, Haunt Me, Do It Again" (2001) and "Radio Amor" (2003) were—for lack of a better term—haunting amalgams of digital static, found sound, and processed analog instruments, all suffused with an air of melancholy seemingly born of a Canadian winterscape. "Mirages" is his smoothest work to date: Unmistakably a Hecker record, from harsh opener to languid closer, and a perfect antidote to everyday stresses and his most seamless record yet.
- "A Minimal Future?: Art as Object 1958-1968", Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and "Beyond Geometry: Experiments in Form 1940s-1970s", Los Angeles County Museum of Art. These two shows (along with, to a lesser extent, "Singular Forms" at the Guggenheim) showed us what critical fuss is all about. It's time to unearth the 1960s, and there's a gold mine joke in here somewhere: Both shows presented plenty of gems for our inspection.
- Diedrich Diedrichsen, "The Primary: Political and Anti-Political Continuities Between Minimal Music and Minimal Art," in A Minimal Future?: Art as Object 1958-1968. A slightly idiosyncratic and highly personal survey of—you guessed it—continuities between minimal music and minimal art. The essay introduced the highly useful term "psychedelic gaze" to my vocabulary. I have Artforum.com colleage Michael Ned Holte to thank for insisting I read (and re-read) this essay. I urge you all to do the same.
- Hero, directed by Zhang Yimou. Like Rivers and Tides, the Andy Goldsworthy documentary, with fight scenes. Absolutely beautiful.
- Craig Seligman, Sontag & Kael: Opposites Attract Me, and Geoffrey O'Brien, Sonata for Jukebox, both published by Counterpoint Press. Two great books with orange covers from the same press in the same year? It can't be a coincidence. Sontag and Kael is the only book I've read twice this year. By his own admission, Seligman loves Kael and reveres Sontag. It makes for a slightly uneven book, but the questions he asks of each writer's body of criticism will inevitably lead to a fruitful self-examination in any practicing critic. O'Brien's memoir-through-music was the most pleasurable read of the past twelve months, as he takes as much pleasure in writing (he is a poet, critic, and the editor of the Library of America to boot) as he does in listening.
- The Futureheads, "The Futureheads," 679 Recordings. This band came out of nowhere and out-Franz Ferdinanded Grammy nominees Franz Ferdinand in September at Roseland. Their self-titled album, while a few tracks too long, contains just as much energy as their live show. If you're having trouble getting out of bed some winter morning, this is the record for you.
- David Wojnarowicz, "Rimbaud in New York," Roth Horowitz. One of my favorite gallery-going experiences is being introduced to well-known works with which I was previously unfamiliar. With over a dozen never-before-exhibited prints, this show was a revelation even to those who were familiar with the "Rimbaud in New York" photos, and the inclusion of several diaries in the exhibition had the unexpected (and pleasant) side effect of leading me back to Wojnarowicz's writing.
- The Animal Collective. This prolific and amorphous group continues to fire off beautiful record after beautiful record. This year's "Sung Tongs" is a step forward from last year's "Here Comes the Indian," which was already delightful. Not to mention the Campfire Songs side project (my favorite release yet) and individual releases by Panda Bear and others. Great live shows too.
- "Philip Guston", The Metropolitan Museum of Art. This exhibition was only on view for four days in January (and I saw it repeatedly throughout November and December 2003), but apart from being a timely, necessary retrospective, it is also a strong example of what the Metropolitan does best. It never gives enough space to traveling retrospectives and is too staid to feature artists still at mid-career: What results are not-quite-complete retrospectives of Modern masters (Guston) and surveys of stalwarts (Thomas Struth, Vija Celmins) that are a pleasure to behold (and easy on the feet). Celmins's print retrospective held there in late 2002 was one of the most illuminating exhibitions I have ever seen.
- EN/OF series, Bottrop-Boy. This series comprises limited edition 12" records by experimental electronic and improv musicians paired with artworks made by contemporary artists. The first release, dated 2001-02, featured two cut and dyed felt sheets made by Liam Gillick and "White Cube Jazz," a collaboration between Ekkehard Ehlers and Joseph Suchy. Earlier this year, Tim Hecker (mentioned above) was paired with Stan Douglas. My admiration for this series is entirely abstract, as I do not own any of the editions, but I've heard several of the musical compositions and they're of unfailingly high quality.
- "Before the End (The Last Painting show)", curated by Olivier Mosset, Swiss Institute, New York. Originally presented at Le Consortium, Dijon, this spring, this show was a tightly-wound "Missing You" card From Mosset to a generation of painters who left painting behind in the mid- to late-1960s. Click here for a brief review I published on Artforum.com.
- Triumph the Insult Comic Dog in "Spin Alley" after the Presidential Debates. Look this clip up online. It makes me wish I owned a television.