Robert Arneson
\nBrick with Hand of
\n1991
\nmodeled 1972
\nbronze
\n9 1\/2 x 8 1\/2 x 4 inches <\/i><\/p>\n
![\"robertarnesonbrick.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/robertarnesonbrick.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Before Robert Arneson achieved his signature style, he was so enamored by Peter Voulkos<\/a>‘ corrosive clay that Arneson almost followed him from the Bay Area to L.A. <\/p>\n Instead, Arneson went North to teach at U.C. Davis, where the West Coast Funk dynasty took root and grew, partly inspired by Chicago’s Jim Nutt<\/a> and Gladys Nilsson<\/a>, key Hairy Who<\/a> figures in briefly California, drawn by the prospect of a paying job (his).<\/p>\n Manhattan is not the first place one would be expect to see an excellent exhibit tracing the roots of Arneson’s journey, from boundary-pushing potter to Rabelaisian, high-style story-teller, but New York is where you find everything; including, creeping in along the edges, an acknowledgment of the West Coast beyond L.A.<\/p>\n For this museum-quality trip through Bay Area art history, 1956-66, N.Y. can thank the George Adams Gallery<\/a>. It proves that instead of starting out as a second-class Voulkos, Arneson was always himself. Although both were equally committed to clay, Arneson loved the world’s cheap charm (and New York’s Pop<\/a>) too much to be entirely comfortable in Voulkos’ high-minded clay version of Abstract Expressionism. While Voulkos tore into his slash and burn, Arneson’s achieved his own kind of comic and forlorn lumpiness, a version of Ab Ex unknown at the time but later explored to great effect by Philip Guston<\/a>.<\/p>\n Arneson, Egg Pot That pot eventually led to this glory: Pei-Pee Also terrific:<\/p>\n Richard Tuttle<\/b> (drawings and installation) at Sperone Westwater<\/a>. This must be a no-hard-feelings show, as Tuttle left SW for Pace. Tuttle is the 21st Century’s Paul Klee. Nobody else who’s now alive can take a line for a walk with such understated power.<\/p>\n Barbara Kruger<\/b> at Mary Boone<\/a>. Three large video screens, cheap jokes in the Richard Prince vein taken in another direction, haunting, heartfelt and unlike Prince’s, genuinely funny.<\/p>\n Glenn Rudolph<\/b> at Bruce Silverstein<\/a>, selected by Matthew Higgs<\/a>.<\/p>\n Rudolph Cherry Picker 2002 Archival inkjet print 30 x 30 inches<\/i><\/p>\n Nice to see Rudolph in New York, especially because, living in Seattle, he no longer has a Seattle gallery. I’d love to see Rudolph’s train photos paired with Justine Kurland’s from This Train Is Bound For Glory<\/i><\/a>. <\/p>\n Higgs:<\/p>\n I first saw Glenn Rudolph’s work in 2003 in Portland, OR. I was living Catherine Opie<\/b> at Barbara Gladstone<\/a>. Opie at her most voluptuous. New York poet Eileen Myles<\/a> is in this show, rounding out her life in photography. Robert Mapplethorpe shot her in the 1970s. On hearing she was a poet, he advised her to put together a band. The Mapplethorpe hangs in her tiny apartment in the East Village, in a bathroom too small for a shower, never mind a tub. Really good poet, but poets who do not form bands (and do not get tenure) tend to live large only in their spacious minds. <\/p>\n Obviously not a poet:<\/p>\n Jenny (Bed), 2009 Chromogenic Print; (37 1\/2 x 50 inches) <\/i><\/p>\n
\n1959
\nglazed ceramic
\n10 1\/2 x 11 3\/4 x 7 3\/4 inches<\/i> <\/p>\n![\"robertarnesonpot.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/robertarnesonpot.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n1964
\nglazed ceramic
\n9 x 19 3\/4 x 14 inches<\/i>.<\/p>\n![\"robertarnesonbott.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/robertarnesonbott.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"barbarakrugermb.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/barbarakrugermb.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"glennrudolphcpick.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/glennrudolphcpick.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n
\nin Oakland, CA, at the time and I’d been invited to Portland by the
\nartist Harrell Fletcher to give a talk. The talk was held in a gallery
\nspace where Glenn’s work was on display. I’d never heard of Glenn or
\nseen any of his work. I’d no idea where he was from, how old he was or
\nwhat he’d done before. His work immediately made me think of other
\nartists’ work – all great art has this effect. Glenn seemed to have
\nabsorbed the history of American photography and then distilled it into
\nsomething uniquely his own. His work is profoundly local. This is
\nimportant to acknowledge. Even though I knew nothing of the people and
\nplaces depicted in his images, Glenn’s evident empathy for his subjects
\nmade them strangely familiar. This is hard to pull off and it’s not
\nsomething that can be taught.\n<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
![\"catherineopiejen.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/catherineopiejen.jpg\")
Finally, Rina Castelnuovo<\/b> at ![\"RinaCastwinethrown.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/RinaCastwinethrown.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![New York’s Pop<\/a>) too much to be entirely comfortable in Voulkos’ high-minded clay version of Abstract Expressionism. While Voulkos tore into his slash and burn, Arneson’s achieved his own kind of comic and forlorn lumpiness, a version of Ab Ex unknown at the time but later explored to great effect by](\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/File:Soft_Bathtub.jpg\"){kind=link}