Museum Visit Review

Upon Visiting the Zimmerli Museum of art @ Rutgers I was please to see a show in conjunction with Exit Art(a non-profit gallery in NY). I have not visited Exit Art for many years and forgot of their existence but was surprised to see they were still around. The show involved digital prints by numerous "cutting edge" artist namely Terry Winters, Vito Acconci, Ann Hamilton, Carrie Mae Weems, and Glen Ligon to name a few.The show did not have any landmark work by these artist but instead works that showed a way into their process. Works that showed in essence sketchs of the artist greater final works. Sometimes in this manner of looking at artist traces its almost like looking at the underbelly of their finished work. All in all it was quite ennjoyable.

The second show i went to while in the museum was one on Woodblock Printing. Having done work in intaglio i found this show to be expansive on the little scope i have on printmaking. The prints dated back to 1890. They went through the changes that we have experienced in woodblock printing and also through various periods in the span of art from then til know. The most enjoyable piece i saw in the show would had been the Pinocchio piece by Jim Dine. It towered over you at slmost 8 ft high. The figure reminded me of Howdy Doody on a bad day with an elongated nose. and for some reason the Donald Judd work though I hardly even looked at it as with the Shirley Levine (of whom I have never been much of a fan) have a particular resonance that seeses to pass.