We Went to No Man's Land: Women Artists from the Rubell Family Collection
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We Went to No Man’s Land: Women Artists from The Rubell Family Collection 12/22/15, 11:06 AM About Features AFC Editions Donate Sound of Art Search Art F City We Went to No Man’s Land: Women Artists from The Rubell Family Collection by Paddy Johnson and Michael Anthony Farley on December 21, 2015 We Went To... Like 6 Tweet Mai-Thu Perret with Ligia Dias, “Apocalypse Ballet (Pink Ring) and “Apocalypse Ballet (3 White Rings,” steel, wire, papier-mâché, emulsion paint, varnish, gouache, wig, flourescent tubes, viscose dress and leather belt, 2006. No Man’s Land: Women Artists from The Rubell Family Collection 95 NW 29 ST, Miami, FL 33127, U.S.A. through May 28, 2016 Participating artists: Michele Abeles, Nina Chanel Abney, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Kathryn Andrews, Janine Antoni, Tauba Auerbach, Alisa Baremboym, Katherine Bernhardt, Amy Bessone, Kerstin Bratsch, Cecily Brown, Iona Rozeal Brown, Miriam Cahn, Patty Chang, Natalie Czech, Mira Dancy, DAS INSTITUT, Karin Davie, Cara Despain, Charlotte Develter, Rineke Dijkstra, Thea Djordjadze, Nathalie Djurberg, Lucy Dodd, Moira Dryer, Marlene Dumas, Ida Ekblad, Loretta Fahrenholz, Naomi Fisher, Dara Friedman, Pia Fries, Katharina Fritsch, Isa Genzken, Sonia Gomes, Hannah Greely, Renée Green, Aneta Grzeszykowska, Jennifer Guidi, Rachel Harrison, Candida Höfer, Jenny Holzer, Cristina Iglesias, Hayv Kahraman, Deborah Kass, Natasja Kensmil, Anya Kielar, Karen Kilimnik, Jutta Koether, Klara Kristalova, Barbara Kruger, Yayoi Kusama, Sigalit Landau, Louise Lawler, Margaret Lee, Annette Lemieux, Sherrie Levine, Li Shurui, Sarah Lucas, Helen Marten, Marlene McCarty, Suzanne McClelland, Josephine Meckseper, Marilyn Minter, Dianna Molzan, Kristen Morgin, Wangechi Mutu, Maria Nepomuceno, Ruby Neri, Cady Noland, Katja Novitskoval Catherine Opie, Silke Otto-Knapp, Laura Owens, Celia Paul, Mai-Thu Perret, Solange Pessoa, Elizabeth Peyton, R.H. http://artfcity.com/2015/12/21/we-went-to-no-mans-land-women-artists-from-the-rubell-family-collection/ Page 1 of 14 We Went to No Man’s Land: Women Artists from The Rubell Family Collection 12/22/15, 11:06 AM Quaytman, Aurie Ramirez, Magali Reus, Marina Rheingantz, Bridget Riley, Cristina Lei, Rodriguez, Pamela Rosenkranz, Amanda Ross-Ho, Jennifer Rubell, Analia Saban, Lara Schnitger, Collier Schorr, Dana Schutz, Beverly Semmes, Mindy Shapero, Nancy Shaver, Cindy Sherman, Xaviera Simmons, Lorna Simpson, Tamuna Sirbiladze, Shinique Smith, Lucie Stahl, Jessica Stockholder, Sarah Sze, Aya Takano, Fiona Tan, Mickalene Thomas, Rosemarie Trockel, Kaari Upson, Hannah Van Bart, Paloma Varga Weisz, Marianne Vitale, Kara Walker, Mary Weatherford, Carrie Mae Weems, Jennifer West, Sue Williams, Haegue Yang, Anicka Yi, Lisa Yuskavage. What’s on view: Two floors worth of immersive installations, sculptures and paintings by over 100 female artists in the 45,000-square-foot former DEA warehouse that houses the Rubell Collection. Paddy: Spending most of the day on the floor of the Miami Convention Center for Art Basel has its benefits, but after looking at this year’s crop of b- grade blue chip work I began to forget what they were. Can this small pool of famous artists possibly deserve all the riches they’ve been bestowed? Is there really such a thing as transformative art experience? I’m embarrassed to admit that bad experiences so consistently make me question all the times art did feel transformative to me. But the great thing about the Miami fairs, in general, is that if one fair or show fails, there’s always something else that won’t. So while Basel was the biggest flop, this year, it was pleasantly offset by what I can honestly describe as some of the best art experiences I’ve ever had. That includes our participation in SATELLITE, of course, but specially, I’m talking about No Man’s Land at the Rubell Collection, which is just jaw droppingly good. I can’t remember ever being in a space where in practically every corner there was a work that gave me such sheer joy for looking at it. When you look at as much work as we do that’s almost unheard of. And of course, it has to be mentioned that of the artists they collect, they often own their best works—or at least memorable ones. Cecily Brown, Rachel Harrison, Barbara Kruger, Marlene Dumas, Cindy Sherman—all had some of their strongest work on view. The show’s incredible. Michael: It’s interesting that you mention this show as a faith-restoring experience in relation to the let-down that was Basel. I found myself marvelling at the fact that here, the blue-chip market and a private collector managed to accomplish something many institutions or independent curators haven’t—presenting an all-female show that feels as if it has nothing to prove. Of course, there were a few more overtly feminist pieces here, but there wasn’t any heavy-handed curation that narrativized the exhibition in opposition to the male-dominated art world or as the product of a struggle. By and large, this was just an incredible collection of talented artists who happened to female. I thought of the Bechdel Test—which asks whether or not two or more female characters in a piece of literature or film have a discussion about something other than a man. No Man’s Land passes with flying colors. So much of the work here was in dialogue over medium, consumption, experimentation, art-for-art’s sake—the spectre of the patriarchy was refreshingly absent even as a point of critical discourse, mostly. Solange Pessoa, “Catedral,” hair, leather, and fabric, 1990-2003. Paddy: I absolutely agree with everything you’ve said here. Just to add to your observation about dialogue over medium, while I think we both agree that this show doesn’t present the viewer with a specific agenda, there is a great convergence of taste and history on view here. The feminist movement did a lot to push materiality as subject matter in the 70’s, (history I like to think the traveling show “That F Word” made more commonly known), and you can see that history extend into the Rubell collection. The first two galleries are filled with massive fabric based installation works by Solange Pessoa—an obvious nod to that feminist material history, and we see that throughout the show, from the cut canvases of Diana Moulton to Jennifer Rubell’s life size mannequin cum nut cracker. I don’t think any of these works were specifically collected for their connection to feminist art http://artfcity.com/2015/12/21/we-went-to-no-mans-land-women-artists-from-the-rubell-family-collection/ Page 2 of 14 We Went to No Man’s Land: Women Artists from The Rubell Family Collection 12/22/15, 11:06 AM history, it just happens that the moment has had a lot of influence on artists the Rubell’s like. Given the organizing principle of the show—highlights from a massive collection loosely arranged under a chosen theme—the chances the exhibition would be boring are pretty high. (After all, it could be anything: cars! text! neon!) But this this exhibition is the best possible outcome of a single subject show I can imagine, that’s a huge achievement. Michael: Just to clarify, I love feminist artwork. But I’m often bothered by the terms “Woman Artist”, “Queer Artist”, “Asian-American Artist”, et al. because they seem to imply that “straight white male” is the default identity of “artist” and everyone else is an exception. And those demographic details aren’t always central to a given artist’s practice. People almost never describe someone as a “Caucasian-American Heterosexual Male Artist” unless they’re using it as a negative. I digress, sorry. At any rate, this show is amazing. Isa Genzken, “Schauspieler,” 2013 (foreground) with Kerstin Brätsch, “When You See Me Again It Won’t Be Me” and “I Want To Be Wrong,” (both from “Broadwaybratsch/Corporate Abstraction series,” 2010). Michael: Why is everything Isa Genzken does so good? I think this gallery does a fantastic job setting the tone of the exhibition: almost every room features graphically bold work and at least one piece with a playful sensibility. http://artfcity.com/2015/12/21/we-went-to-no-mans-land-women-artists-from-the-rubell-family-collection/ Page 3 of 14 We Went to No Man’s Land: Women Artists from The Rubell Family Collection 12/22/15, 11:06 AM Marlene Dumas, “Miss January,” oil on canvas, 1997. Michael: Photos really don’t do justice to this weird and wonderful painting by Marlene Dumas. I always appreciate paintings that tell you some kind of story about the artist’s decision making process. Here, there’s so much going on. Like, why is she not wearing pants? Or her one sock? None of the flesh tones on different body parts match. Her face is somewhat over-worked to the point of being muddy and mask-like while the leg with a sock on is just a sketch. At first glance, it looks like Dumas started “finishing” the painting from the top-down but then gave up. But there’s a peculiar, brilliant logic to its awkwardness. The unfinished ground (which almost implies the painter couldn’t settle on a color choice) feels unstable like she’s on unsure footing, despite her assertive stance.That top-heavy distribution of paint/solidity animates the image, like the figure is dangling from the wrong center of gravity. All the jerky limbs point toward her crotch, which is where one’s eye is immediately drawn as a result of the exposed cadmium underpainting for her hands—which is complementary to the splotchy-eggplant background. It’s really satisfying to take in all the different areas of contrasting opaque/washy surface and naturalistic/acerbic colors.