MSB brainstorming

21 January 2014

John Perreault on Martin Puryear and Alan Shields

Originally published Novembetr 27, 2007

Puryear.jpgParrish Shields.jpg

Martin Puryear: The Heights
Excerpts:
The Martin Puryear retrospective at MoMA (11 West 53rd St., to Jan. 14, 2008) presents a panoply of engaging sculptures. The large-scale pieces in the second-floor atrium conquer that unfriendly, gigantic-broom-closet space.

Miraculously, the suspended 36-foot Ladder for Booker T. Washington (1996) and the slender 63-foot stalk of the wheeled Ad Astra (2007) conquer the architectural mistake.

Alan Shields Returns; Glitter Can Be Gold
Excerpts: Alan Shields (1944-2005) is one of those artists who disappeared.

My theory is that the search for viable products during a hot art market is not only fueling the cradle-robbing of M.F.A. candidates, but also causing some exhumations.

We shouldn't leave art resurrections to the needs of the quixotic art market, now controlled by collector-dealers and their ilk. Couldn't at least one major New York museum include exhibitions of underappreciated artists who deserve a second look?

Read on at John Perreault's Artopia here.

No comments: