Colony Little, Culture Shock Art

I have two distinct reactions to exhibitions.  I either love it so much that I immediately come home to write about it, or I sit on the experience and let it ruminate in my mind for weeks.  I went to the Urs Fischer exhibit at MOCA a week and a half ago, and I am still thinking about it.

The artist  defies a cogent description.  All I knew of Fischer prior to the show was that he had a gallery show in NYC where he excavated the gallery space.  Within 2 seconds of walking into MOCA it is clear that Fischer likes to destroy and morph every aspect of his exhibition space.  From  slow melting wax sculptures and suspended fruit to  blown out holes in the gallery walls, Fisher eschews stasis.

Weeks later, I still struggle to mentally synthesize the raindrops in “Horses Dream of Horses” with the “Bread House” (yes it was a house made of bread which certainly curbed my craving for carbs for a day or two).  What I saw was quite remarkable.  Every inch of the gallery space provides an opportunity for commentary, from the slick black vinyl floors to the sloppily whitewashed walls.

MOCA’s triumph with this show is that they chose to go “all in” with Fischer and opened up the Geffen Contemporary to “Yes”, a collaborative project that transformed the Geffen into a claymaking studio.  Over 1,500 people were invited to mold clay in the museum with the results now on display.  Here’s a great video of the process.  This is one of the best curated shows I’ve seen at MOCA in a long time.