Don't Shoot the Art Curator

Jordan Wolfson

The curators have taken a few hits for their Whitney Biennial 2006 show, "Day for Night," named after the Francois Truffaut film. I think that the exhibition is an accurate survey of what I've seen in Chelsea galleries. If you think a lot of the stuff is lousy, well, then the current hot artists aren't tickling your fancy. If the work helps you generate deep thoughts, then hurray for synchronicity. In either case, the show is worth checking out. It's a lot less exhausting than tranversing the streets of Chelsea to find the right gallery, but there is a killer line to get in. The above still is from a film in which a headless man gives--in sign language--Charlie Chaplin's closing speech from "The Great Dictator." Here are an additional two other works I liked:


Marilyn Minter, Stepping Up


Urs Fischer, sculpture; Rudolf Stingel painting

The following two images are works that I thought were borderline pitiful:


Gedi Sibony, "The Qualities Depend on Other Qualities"


Daniel Johnston, "Goodnite"

(Images via Whitney, New York Times, Jordan Wolfson.com. Thanks to MJP!)