Summer Arts Season Launched in the Berkshires
Memorial Day Openings at Mass MoCA, Kolok Gallery, Brill Gallery, and Eclipse Gallery
By: Charles Giuliano - May 30, 2007
During the Memorial Day weekend there was a tight schedule of overlapping events and openings. We started the run with a nibble of cheese at the first anniversary group exhibition of Kolok Gallery, then dashed to Mass MoCA to toss off a couple of dry martinis with installation artist, Spencer Finch, and brought it all back home with the two person show of Rick Harlow and Kelly Lee in the gallery of the Eclipse Mill. That was three openings in roughly three hours, with the bulk of it at Mass MoCA, but all within the easy drive in North Adams hopping from one parking lot to the next. The summer art season has been launched with a vengeance and will be flat out from now through Labor Day.
Kurt Kolok was upbeat about launching his second season. The first offering is a group show of abstract and figurative artists displaying the range of the gallery and what will be seen this season. But he asserted that he is scaling back from having new shows every two weeks as he did last summer. That is too grueling a pace. Similarly, Ralph Brill, who has a gallery in the Eclipse Mill, which is currently showing Eve Sonneman, plans to keep shows up even longer ideally having four per year. He is still showing a group of works by the late photographer Leonard Freed which he hopes to sell, as the artist intended, as a portfolio.
There was a mob of people at Mass MoCA particularly at the bar. We first spotted Stuart Chase, director of the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield. The museum is in the midst of a $9 million development and renovation. He was balancing a colorful cocktail glass and directed me to where I might also find one. Chatting with him was Scott Langoneur, director of Gallery Boreas, which operates out of a garage in his home in Lenox as well as space in Pittsfield. Details about his venue for his third season there was a bit sketchy but he was excited about plans with the Storefront Artists group, the Leslie Ferrin Gallery, which will have a space in Pittsfield in addition to the one in Lenox, and the Berkshire Museum to take out a full page ad, including his Gallery Boreas, in an upcoming issue of Art Forum. Which puts Pittsfield on the map so to speak. Scott also discussed plans to lead a group of arts people to his second home in Iceland in November. He has worked a lot with Icelandic artists and is trying to organize a visit around events that will be happening in the fall.
When we caught up with Mass MoCA director, Joe Thompson, he was more interested in celebrating the Finch opening that discussing the controversial Christoph Buchel issues. It was widely thought among those attending the opening that we would get to see the Buchel show "Training Ground for Democracy" which has been "Cancelled." The museum has gone to court to get permission to take the tarps off and allow the public to view the detritus of the now terminated project with the Swiss installation artist. I asked if it were possible to see the Buchel space, tarps and all that night, but Thompson seemed surprised by the question, and insisted that the only scheduled event was the opening and celebration for Spencer Finch "What Time Is It On the Sun?" which occupies less than a third of the museum's space. A little under a third is now filled with the large exhibition "The Believers" with a single smaller gallery for work by Eric von Lieshout "And the angel then says, Tolerance" and the hastily assembled documentary show "Made in Mass MoCA" which claims a slice of the vast Buchel space.
Although unfinished, which is at best a relative term, it was widely anticipated among guests during the opening that there would be a ruling on the court case that would allow visitors to catch a glimpse of all the junk gathered for the Buchel exhibition which may or may not be art anyway. So, what the heck difference does it make whether or not it is actually seen by the public? Which may be a moot art point but is a colossal headache for Thompson whose modestly budgeted museum, with an enormous space and overhead, doubled its original budget and shelled out some $320,000 on this expensive project with nothing to show for it. What a huge mess. Particularly coming into the Summer season with the largest space and biggest draw, literally, under wraps. It is now in the hands of the courts to sort out. I asked Thompson if he had a contract with the artist. Again, he seemed taken aback by the question but I was just asking for comment on what has been reported in the media.
Thompson responded that the court case might take some time and there was no projection on when a decision would be handed down. It is also expected that the $320,000 spent so far, as reported in the media, is not the end of expenses for the failed project. One would assume legal costs even if the lawyers are on retainer and work pro bono. What if a motion goes for the artist and against the museum? Will there be damages and further legal fees? Also the museum is responsible for hauling away the mass of material now in the gallery. Like a house, trucks, an airplane fuselage, the lobby of the old North Adams Cinema, and stuff like that. Where does that junk go from here?
If the courts rule against showing the Buchel fiasco as a kind of found object failed experiment, then what? The artist through his attorneys maintains that the museum does not have the right to show unfinished work. In this tug of war who has the moral and legal momentum? The artist to show the work as he intended, or the museum to end his seemingly outrageous demands and expectations? What obligations does the museum have to inform the public? Clearly, the curiosity factor has great drawing power. Thompson assured me that there is a list of artists lined up for projects with the museum. Some in the loop suggest that this mess is exactly what the artist intended all along as a kind of conceptual work pointing to issues in the art world. Other works and projects by the artist entail similar strategies but never before on this magnitude. Some observers ask if the museum had exercised due diligence in exploring all of the contingencies prior to agreeing to a project with an artist with a reputation for being demanding and difficult. The interesting issue is what impact this has on the career of the artist. Will the next museum director think twice or will there be a waiting list now that the artist has gotten free global publicity? This may be clever marketing and publicity for Buchel but it is doubtful that this controversial squandering of precious time, space, and resources enhances Thompson's resume.
We asked if there was any chance the gallery will be cleared in time to show that next artist at some point during the current season? Not really was the answer for "logistical" reasons. Part of the strategy of Mass MoCA is to leave its shows up for a very long time. The Buchel show was intended to open back in December so it may well be not until late fall before the museum cuts its losses and cleans up the mess.
Even with a third of its space off line Mass MoCA is still one of the largest contemporary art museums in North America. With the exception of its greatest rival, Dia Beacon, a couple of hours away in New York State. The question is whether, with a third of its drawing power non functional, Mass Moca will have enough critical mass and momentum to pull through the peak of the season. It is during the next three months that cultural institutions in the Berkshires have to make their nut. Jacob's Pillow and Tanglewood, as well as several theatre companies, end their seasons by Labor Day.
Will the witty, but rather Bud Light, Spencer Finch installation prove to be less filling or taste great without the original programming of paring it with the over the top Christoph Buchel exhibition? It is interesting that both artists work in a ratcheted up aspect of Marcel Duchamp's concepts of the Found Object, Readymade and Assisted Readymade; but in a more high octane 21st century mode. Perhaps the curators intended that Buchel would be the Yang to Finch's Yin. So how this plays remains to be seen. And we will return to look in greater depth than is possible at an opening. Particularly with a couple of Martinis in the mix. But even under social circumstances the audience was upbeat and receptive. Tellingly, Finch, in opening remarks, revealed that the galleries had been open while he was installing so he got to listen in anonymously to conversations about his work. For the most part, he conveyed that it had been interesting and productive. Thompson has stated that this kind of hands on lab or workshop approach is part of the signature of Mass MoCA projects. But it was just this that Buchel so objected to. It seems that every art person I have spoken to, at one time or another, got to see the Buchel installation in progress.
The evening was winding down when we made the Eclipse Mill Gallery the last stop. The artists Rick Harlow and Kelly Lee were pleased overall with the steady flow of traffic. It's tough when so much is happening all at the same time. Their show is really terrific. A couple of Rick's paintings were in a solo show I organized earlier this year at the New England School of Art & Design. It was great to see them again in a different setting. The surprise was a huge psychedelic panorama from the 1980s which he says was last shown in a Boston Now show at the ICA. The painted panoramas of Harlow are much in synch with the photo panoramas of the Berkshires by Lee. He stitches them together with Photoshop. More surprising were a couple of Lee's paintings, an aspect of the work I was less familiar with, but also photo based. One presents a school of needlefish (so I am told) while the other depicts a cavorting group of seals. Again this is work that requires more careful attention.
For now. Let the games begin.