B. Wurtz in New York, NY

I learned a lot during the pandemic. I listened to every interesting art lecture I could find, read a ton, and took many Zoom classes. It was during a talk with Arlene Shechet that I first heard about the artist B. Wurtz. I mentioned his book in a post from back then, and in my normal fashion, have learned everything I could about him since. I really like Wurtz’s pan paintings, and have kept my eye on him. Luckily for me, I knew there was an exhibition, B. Wurtz: Monuments, at Garth Greenan Gallery in Chelsea.

(Front piece) Untitled, 2015
Wood, wire, plastic bag, pigmented paper and thread

“B. Wurtz is perhaps best known for his repurposing of everyday flotsam into joyous, humorous, and beautiful sculptural objects. The works in the presentation—spanning the past four decades of Wurtz’s career—amount to transubstantiations of the commonplace, exposing the enigmatic relationships between grandiosity and scale, modesty and pomp, humor and seriousness.” (Garth Greenan Gallery)

Untitled, 2016
Pigmented cotton and solvent transfer
Untitled, 2022
Inkjet on acetate
Bunch #2, 1995
Plastic bags, wire and metal stand

The back wall of the gallery was fun to look through. A few of my favorites are below.

Untitled (Red and Green Can), 1998
Can, paint, ink on paper, metal
Untitled, 2017
35mm slide in a cardboard mount, white plastic bread tie,
ink, wire, thread and wool
Green Bowl, 1987
Wood, modeling paste, acrylic and metal

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