albert oehlen at luhring augustine gallery

sorry, this isn't art... this is what's wrong with art today.

Ara Pehlivanian   04.25.09

Perhaps my calling what I left in the toilet should be called art and also go unchallenged by virtue of it needing an open mind to appreciate it. The "openness" argument serves as such a broad umbrella that allows *anything* to be art, which is fine, except that it completely devalues any real art. Of course, then there wouldn't be anything considered*real* would there. So really, nothing is art and what was posted above is really just pointless.

Ara Pehlivanian   04.25.09

I agree that calling everything art leads down a road that dissolves into a postmodern argument that is just silly, but dictating what is "real art and what is not is pretty ridiculous as well. so what is "real" art then? Cause I can see the above work playing off ideas that have been very prevalent over the last 60-70 years.

justin   04.26.09

Granted, the line between art and not art is blurry at best. But if I were to take a stab at it, to me art requires that the finished work have some semblance of deliberate work as opposed to something anyone with no artistic ability can do. Art needs to be the domain of the artist, not anyone who can throw paint onto canvas.

Ara Pehlivanian   04.26.09

The problem with your way of looking at art Ara is the same as most of the people out there, when you come across with the final result, such as the one above, you acknowledge that you your self, or some on else would be able to reproduce such a work, and it’s is not a completely wrong thought, seems pretty easy, some collages, some painting and I admit that the skills needed are not high sometimes.
What you forget as everybody else, is that you never thought of such a work, and probably you would never think, and that’s the beauty with art, when you suddenly are struck with such a simple piece, such a simple idea, but one that needed the creativity of the artist him/her self to be born.
This is art, creativity, and please don’t tell me that you call what you leave in the toilet creative.

ema   04.26.09

Ema, I hear what you're saying, but to me it's just an argument for uniqueness as art--which could just as well be the result of randomness as the intervention of a human being. Again, if the sole criteria for something being art is that someone came up with it, then everything is art and nothing is art and the whole medium is entirely devalued and meaningless. There need to be some criteria defining it, otherwise it means nothing.

Ara Pehlivanian   04.26.09

But defining art can some kind of technical skill is far too narrow. Duchamp's fountain took little to no skill to create but love it or hate it is changed the direction of the art world more than perhaps any other work. I can physically type a novel on my computer, but unless the content is compelling it is just an exercise.

justin   04.26.09

I think that there's nothing redeeming about this. I don't see the artist trying to express anything. Maybe the lack of my ability to read Spanish is hiding something, but I doubt it.

As far as the "skilled" value of art, I think there is room for something that is "something anyone can do." That room is the first person that did it most the time though in my book. Pollock throws and drips some paint on a canvas and everyone says "Well I could have done that." The thing is, not everyone did it so it was unique.

The thing that puzzles me the most is what seems to be a complete lack of effort. On the piece "no," it looks as if the artist started to do something creative and do more than just mix colors on top of a couple adverts, but then just changes their and mixes it all together.

It might be art to other people, and that's fine, but it's nothing to me.

CRW   05.03.09

just saw this show at luhring augustine - you have to see it in person - web pics can't convey the scale or quality of the colors and gestures. The construction is very elegant - the shapes and gestures are placed with an easy precision without being too chaotic/messy, or contrived. Ice and Fish in particular are very strong.

oehlen continues to fascinate me - where some see anti-art, I see a unique visual language with uncanny kinetic construction that belies it's deliberate obfuscations and gestures. That might sound like bullshit art-speak, but it's tough to pull off something that feels this easy and energetic without coming off as contrived.

dutch   05.13.09

But defining art can some kind of technical skill is far too narrow. Duchamp's fountain took little to no skill to create but love it or hate it is changed the direction of the art world more than perhaps any other work. I can physically type a novel on my computer, but unless the content is compelling it is just an exercise.louis vuitton

louis vuitton   06.23.09