Robert Miller Gallery:
Too Good for the Amateurs |
A
Critique By
Shani Frymer |
The Robert Miller Gallery located on 26th street belongs
to a cluster of prestigious galleries in Chelsea that host elegant
openings complete with wine and the usual accoutrements. One such
exhibit to receive this sort of reception was a joint show featuring
the childlike watercolors of Michael Kilmbauch and a series of large
Jamaican portraits by photographer Renee Cox.
As an aspiring professional photographer looking to
strike up stimulating conversations, my first priority was to congratulate
the artists on compiling a successful show and, ideally, talk to
them about their work. Between a combination of pretentious attitudes
and the struggle to weave through swarms of admiring fans clinging
to the toasts of the evening, I found neither artist particularly
approachable.
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The work itself was interesting,
but not particularly impressive considering the aloof mentalities
of its creators. The gallery tends to pride itself on the
quality of work shown overall, but perhaps even from the perspective
of an emerging artist I can say without any reservation that
I have seen better. In a wave of post-modernist followers,
the new art scene boasts work that is not only engaging, but
represents ground breaking ideas that will shake the art world
to its core. There was nothing core-shaking about watery ochre
angels floating on the large pages in Robert Miller. Of the
three rooms in which the work was shown, the paintings were
all based around the same idea, one incorporating text in
German. It seemed that the artists attempted to merge a few
ideas; the childlike imagery with that of the grotesque. These
androgynous angels were not gruesome, but bloody with neutral
expressions, the colors dripping to the bottom of the page.
Michael Kalmbach
SCHWEISSTUCH DER 12 APOSTEL, 2003
Watercolor on paper
82 1/4 x 59 inches
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The work of Renee Cox
was of a completely different vein. She placed emphasis
on the mythological figure the ‘Obia’, which
in Jamaica was the name for the witch woman. Supposedly
Cox’s exhibition was a commentary on this character.
Many of the images were simply the artist herself dressed
up in traditional clothing, barefoot carrying a basket on
her head. In her artist statement, she said that a large
part of this series was an exploration of the general lack
of female figures in the old Jamaican lore. The images themselves
were large, black and white, undoubtedly shot in a larger
format such as two and a quarter, and it was relieving to
see work still shot in film rather than digital. There was
a great amount of detail in some of the other portraits,
including images some of the locals.
Renee
Cox
CLEANSING: MAROON SERIES, 2004
Digital ink jet print on watercolor paper
AP 1, ed. 3
44 x 34 inches
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I suppose that it was the environment
of the celebration itself that seemed most agitating. There was
a great deal more depth to the concept of Cox’s work, regardless
of her attitude, but I found Michael Kilmbaugh a great deal more
approachable when he was not surrounded by other people. I believe
that with another viewing I could develop a greater appreciation
for Cox’s work, however Kilmbaugh’s was unsuccessfully
whimsical, and gave me little to think about.
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The Robert
Miller Gallery:
524 W. 26th Street
New York, NY 10001
Showing Now Through April 30th, 2005
A Collection by
Jean-Paul
Riopelle
Jean-Paul Riopelle
ET VERT, 1966
Oil on canvas
57 1/2 x 38 1/4 inches
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Visit
http://www.robertmillergallery.com
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