New Museum Review

I visited the New Museum on Saturday.

Of the four exhibits I saw, I preferred David Goldblatt's Intersections Intersected. Goldblatt used the gallery to display photos of South Africa, in several different series. In one series, he highlighted the often-devastating changes on the landscape and people of the region, juxtaposing images from the 80's against those from the new millenium. His photography was beautiful and engaging, often showing the drastic changes but also the minute similarities. In a second series, he depicts the plight of the AIDS epidemic in South Africa, taking photographs of street scenes that often include only a small, subtle AIDS element that one must almost locate, like Where's Waldo. I particularly enjoyed Bungee Jumper, Mother & Child, and Join Our Club for their subtle yet powerful imagery. The photos were very large, yet the important elements were very small, often forcing the viewer to get close in order to see them, creating a sense of intimacy with the work. I enjoyed walking through his exhibit, although I'm not sure it warranted two full floors.

Emory Douglas' Black Panther exhibit was filled with interesting, bold, stylistic artwork, but in my opinion was totally overwhelming. Not so much for the aggressiveness of the message, but because it felt like there was far too much work to keep me interested, and I normally like artwork that communicates strong social messages. From a curation standpoint, I think that a viewer would be more likely to appreciate a handful of carefully selected works than hundred of very similar works.

I did not at all like the Museum As Hub exhibit on the top floor, consisting of several video works and an audio installation. The latter was at least conceptually interesting in the sense that the viewer had to literally put his ear to the wall to hear it, but beyond that I didn't hear anything that even remotely held my interest in the 5 minutes I stood listening. The content of the video piece was completely beyond me-- it seemed an awful lot just like typical wacky, disorganized art hijinks on film.

Overall, I thought the New Museum itself was impressive and as a gallery space has a lot of creative potential, but they could do a better job filling it.