Conceptual Crossroads
The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago celebrates its 40th Anniversary with forty "free entrance" days and a populist exhibition, Sympathy for the Devil: Art and Rock and Roll Since 1967.
It's a rambling over-reaching affair but hey, well worth the admission price.
1967 is the year the MCA Chicago opened its doors. It is also the year Andy Warhol produced The Velvet Underground and Nico. And fittingly, the first Sympathy piece is a portion of Warhol's Screen Tests series. Between 1964 and 1966 Warhol filmed a variety of people for these screen tests, but to fit theme we only get VU.
Around the corner is Pedro Bell's the Electric Spanking of War Babies which eventually made it to a Funkadelic album. Great image, but probably here as much because Pedro Bell is a Chicago artist than any other reason; same reason Ed Paschke is represented with a supposedly glam inspired piece, even though Paschke didn't really have a rock and roll connection.
Giving a shout out to the hometown is understandable, but then where's Jon Langford? Perhaps his art didn't look rock inspired enough.
I dig,
Douglas Gordon's trio of bootleg concert footage featuring the Cramps, the Smiths and the Rolling Stones. Lux Interior taunts us from the first screen. He's wearing only black leather pants and high heeled shoes. In the middle of the room are two large screens leaning against one another showing slow motion crowd shots from Altamont. At the end of the room is a film of a young Morrissey toying with his worshiping fans, bare chested like Lux but in white pants.
It's a rambling over-reaching affair but hey, well worth the admission price.
1967 is the year the MCA Chicago opened its doors. It is also the year Andy Warhol produced The Velvet Underground and Nico. And fittingly, the first Sympathy piece is a portion of Warhol's Screen Tests series. Between 1964 and 1966 Warhol filmed a variety of people for these screen tests, but to fit theme we only get VU.
Around the corner is Pedro Bell's the Electric Spanking of War Babies which eventually made it to a Funkadelic album. Great image, but probably here as much because Pedro Bell is a Chicago artist than any other reason; same reason Ed Paschke is represented with a supposedly glam inspired piece, even though Paschke didn't really have a rock and roll connection.
Giving a shout out to the hometown is understandable, but then where's Jon Langford? Perhaps his art didn't look rock inspired enough.
I dig,
Douglas Gordon's trio of bootleg concert footage featuring the Cramps, the Smiths and the Rolling Stones. Lux Interior taunts us from the first screen. He's wearing only black leather pants and high heeled shoes. In the middle of the room are two large screens leaning against one another showing slow motion crowd shots from Altamont. At the end of the room is a film of a young Morrissey toying with his worshiping fans, bare chested like Lux but in white pants.
Sympathy isn't just another frolic through cover art, although 1967 would have been a good year to start that celebration. The Beatles released Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in '67.
Even more importantly, the next year Zappa released We're Only in it for the Money.
Anyway,
Molon calls Sympathy for the Devil, "...the most serious and comprehensive look at the intimate and inspired relationship between the visual arts and rock-and-roll culture to date..." The exhibition is a romp and I enjoyed it (and through November 14th it's free). But I don't think you will come out of this exhibition with a greater understanding of the relationship between the visual arts and R & R culture.
Maybe you will come out with more questions and that's not a bad thing
for which
to hope
for.
Even more importantly, the next year Zappa released We're Only in it for the Money.
Anyway,
Molon calls Sympathy for the Devil, "...the most serious and comprehensive look at the intimate and inspired relationship between the visual arts and rock-and-roll culture to date..." The exhibition is a romp and I enjoyed it (and through November 14th it's free). But I don't think you will come out of this exhibition with a greater understanding of the relationship between the visual arts and R & R culture.
Maybe you will come out with more questions and that's not a bad thing
for which
to hope
for.
Which brings us to a conclusion,
the crossroads where conceptual arts always meet is a nebulous place called the avant-garde.
Rock and Roll just happened to be there a couple of few times.
Songs
Marcel Duchamp - Musical Sculpture
Frank Zappa & the Mother's of Invention - What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body?
Black Dice - ABA
P.S. Is it rock? Flosstradamus played the MCA SFTD Opening night. Turn it up a notch.
P.P.S. churchbus will record and rehearse in Rirkrit Tiravanija's piece Untitled 1996 (Rehearsal Studio No. 6 Silent Version) on Saturday, December 1st at 1 PM.
Rock and Roll just happened to be there a couple of few times.
Songs
Marcel Duchamp - Musical Sculpture
Frank Zappa & the Mother's of Invention - What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body?
Black Dice - ABA
P.S. Is it rock? Flosstradamus played the MCA SFTD Opening night. Turn it up a notch.
P.P.S. churchbus will record and rehearse in Rirkrit Tiravanija's piece Untitled 1996 (Rehearsal Studio No. 6 Silent Version) on Saturday, December 1st at 1 PM.
3 Comments:
thats a pretty good playlist on that exhibit. very cool that they included Red Krayola (even if its the later stuff) and James White and the Blacks (even if they called them James Chance and the Contortions). However, except for a few, it seems the artists on the playlist are almost exactly the same ones that were on the playlist that the Long Beach Contemporary Art Museum put together for their c. 1990 Art of the Music Video exhibit. I guess it goes to show either what little attention the mainstream art world has been paying to the art rock world in recent years, or how the art rock scene has moved so far away from the mainstream art world so as to be too hard to find. I dont know which is it, but i would guess its a lot of the first and a little of the second.
There's a few newer acts in the mix. Black Dice is in there and one BD member has work in the show.
Funny, I got into Black Dice through a girlfriend of one of the members, who was in Tricia's mfa program. Another member of Tricia's class, Melanie Schiff, has three pieces in the show.
Did any of you see Andre Stitt when he performed at Catal Huyuk and molested his anus with scissors? Now thats some serious art people. That is true commitment! And now, I will be double checking your posts for secret messages.
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