Skin Fruit

The Skin Fruit exhibition at the New Museum (3/3/10-6/6/10) represents a smorgasbord of contemporary art from the Dakis Joannou collection, assembled by Jeff Koons. The exhibit mainly addresses the human form, and how our bodies or the surface of a thing can define its experience. Many of the pieces also confront the tension between the skin and outside and how that guides the viewer’s evaluation of what the piece implies. Skin fruit shows how contemporary artists have interpreted such a historical theme and inspiration of art, the human body. Most of the artists featured in the show are heavy weights in the contemporary art scene and the work dates from the 1960s until the present.
One of the first pieces that I saw was Liza Lou’s sparkly “Super Sister”. The piece is of a black woman with 70 ‘s style afro, cut off Levis, a green beaded bikini top, heavy make up, and dark red platform heels. The super sister with a rifle in one hand and the other placed on her hip looks up with attitude. The beaded, sparkly red shoes reminded me instantly of Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, but instead of wearing a blue and white checkered dress with a basket, super sister sports blue and white Levis and a gun. The imposing tall figure mixes images of black power with female sexuality. The visual shock factor of the piece is part of its effect; the shiny and gaudy shell represents the entirety of the sculpture. The women fruit or self is literally on display through her clothes and figure.
Another jarring piece is Pavel Althamer’s “Schedule of the Crucifix”. A wooden cross is displayed on the wall with foot pegs, a small seat, and leather straps on the arms. Random actors are hired to dress as Jesus and sit on the cross till they can no longer. While in the museum, an actor wearing a white cloth, climbed on to the cross and suddenly, getting into character, turned his face up to the ceiling in agony. This was a very bizarre scene to see the actor climb onto the cross and then suddenly jump into character. The iconic and historic image of Jesus on the cross is transformed by the real human figure. Although the real figure adds to the piece, the cross with out the figure seems empty.
There are other pieces in the show that deal with the human form in a less literal manner. The physical way that our bodies are constructed is, in many ways, how we comprehend the world and sort out thoughts and confusions. In Kiki Smith’s sculpture “Mother and Child”, a naked mother and child are seated both facing away from each other pleasuring themselves. Though next to each other, their relationship is separated by their preoccupation with their own bodies. On the other hand, Chris Ofili’s “Rodin…The Thinker” illustrates a black woman with orange hair in the class pose of the original Rodin sculpture, but wearing stockings with her breast and vagina exposed. The act of thinking is confined inside, but the upward gaze and the expression on the thinker implies the struggle of thoughts to move byond the self.
I really enjoyed the show overall and thought that it did do a good job representing artists with different approaches and thoughts. While some artists seemed to be highlighting the restriction that the body or the skin has on a persons being others seemed to imply the freedom or power that ones form or outside can allow. The show is also a good survey or introduction for those who are not familiar with recent art scene to view many prominent artists in the recent contemporary art scene.
After seeing the show I read Roberta Smith’s review in the New York Times. She was very critical that the owners of the collection were on the board of directors of the museum and were showing the pieces mainly to increase the value of the art. She also comments that the New Museum has always tried to be a place that showcased new artists, but all of the artists in Skin Fruit are well established. Although she might be right that this show is not launching anyone’s career. I think that it is a worthwhile use of the museum’s space because it is enjoyable, accessible and cohesive. Many are critical of what some would call blockbuster shows, but I think that the more people who are drawn into museums and are exposed to art the better. Although I think it is important to show unknown artists work, the artists in the show are very talented and their fame should not detract from the power of their work.