New Museum

Overall I found the New Museum to be disappointing. I don't know if the reason was that it was a rather tiny museum with a tiny collection or that most of the work just wasn't good or interesting. Maybe it is a combination of the two.

The Lynda Benglis Sculptures were the only things I could appreciate or tolerate. The Phantom installation which glowed in the dark reminded me of frozen waterfalls. It seemed to capture a passing of time or movement in a single unmoving structure. The rest of her art seemed silly however, I felt like it was too easy to take some polaroids of some naked people, put it up on the wall, and call it art. It was way too 70s-feminist, and, like 90s fem-rock, it's just sad and annoying. I wouldn't have been surprised if she had some lame vagina-period piece. I guess the reason why I can't appreciate it is because the message has been lost or it just isn't as relevant now as it was then. It made me want to burn my bra... not really.

The George Condo floors were... boring. I liked the parlor set up however. Most of his work was too similar. One can create art without having every single thing look exactly the same. How many portraits of weird characters can a guy make? A lot. I guess I answered my own question. He had a few more dynamic paintings which explored figure and movement. These were actually interesting and I, believe it or not, stopped to look at them for a while instead of breezing by, as I had done with all the other paintings, since nothing caught my eye (because everything looked the same). Twilight zone!

I've never been to the New Museum, and based on the visit I've had I don't think I'll ever go there again. I'm never one to complain but I'm really glad I didn't have to pay to get in, because if i did, I probably would have asked for my money back.