Installation shot

Curated by Jeff Koons, the controversial exhibition “Skin Fruit,” on view until June 6th, 2010 at the New Museum, is the first exhibition in the US of Athens-based Dakis Joannou Collection made up of 1,500 works by 400 artists. Pulling from one of the best collections of contemporary art in the world might be intimidating for most curators, but first-time curator Koons does an excellent job of selecting interesting works that explore the theme of “the human form as a vessel of and vehicle for experience.”

Included in the show are works by Robert Gober, Nathalie Djurberg, Terence Koh, Paul McCarthy, Tim Noble and Sue Webster, Kiki Smith, Liza Lou, Charles Ray, and many more including one work by Koons, One Ball Total Equlibrium Tank from 1985, the first major artwork that Joannou acquired for his now remarkable collection. I was pleasantly surprised by this exhibition and encourage people to make the effort to see it. Highlights for me:

Paul Chan’s Orgy Before Man And Storm, 2003 had a great Matisse “Joy of Life” reference in the middle of the sex and love fest including people of all genders and colors.

Tauba Auerbach. Crumple VI, 2008, acrylic and inkjet print on canvas

Tauba Auerbach whose work I adore and am now seeing everywhere (Armory, Whitney Biennial).

Liza Lou, Super Sister, 1999, Cast polyester, resin and glass beads

Liza Lou’s Super Sister is a human figure made of glass beads, not the type of work I am used to seeing by this artist. Usually working with beads she creates patterns and abstractions in her three-dimensional works but I have never seen her create a human form; it is pretty fabulous way to enter the space.

Charles Ray’s Carousel plays with perception and scale. A piece he created in 1990 but was never pleased with, he has reworked the piece in gray versus its original bright colors. The horses move but never seem to be making any progress.

Four gouaches on paper by Kara Walker are a nice addition and complement the ginormous sculptures that fill the space.

Terence Koh, Untitled (Chocolate Mountains), 2006, Mixed media: styrofoam, fiberglass, and white chocolate icing

Terence Koh made Untitled (Chocolate Mountains) in 2006. Made of styrofoam, fiberglass and white chocolate icing the work is an interpretation of the twin towers. Often working in white, the color that symbolizes death in China, the mountains are elegant, messy, and olfactory all at the same time.

Kiki Smith, Untitled (Bowed Woman), 1995

Kiki Smith’s Untitled (Bowed Woman), 1995 hangs high on the wall leading to the stairway. Made of brown wrapping paper, cellulose and horse hair, the figure reminds one of a crucifixion.

Two Nathalie Djurberg videos are on view in the hall niche. Djurberg is an artist I first became introduced to at the Venice Biennale. The more interesting of the two works is It’s the Mother. A claymation video in which a saftig woman embraces and says goodbye to her five children as each one climbs back into her vagina one by one. It is obviously both physically and emotionally painful for her as tears roll down her cheeks. The frightening faces on the children and the disturbing nature of the scene are juxtaposed with a tenderness between the mother and her offspring.

Gillian Wearing, Signs That Say What You Want Them to Say..., 1992-93, c-print

Gillian Wearing’s c-print from her “Signs that Say What you Want Them to Say” series from 1992-3 is great and speaks for itself (no pun intended).

Janine Antoni, Saddle, 2000, Full rawhide

In Janine Antoni’s Saddle from 2000 it appears as if a figure looms under a cloth but it is simply the form of a figure molded into a large rawhide piece.

Chris Ofili, Rodin...The Thinker, 1997, Acrylic, oil, resin, glitter, map-pins, and elephant dung on canvas

Chris Ofili has a painting in the show based on Rodin’s The Thinker. This is the work by Ofili that I am drawn to with its sparkle, repetition of dots, curving, sensuous lines, and bright orange and yellows.

Pawel Althamer, Schedule of the Crucifix, 2005

Schedule of the Crucifix is a performance work by Pawel Althama from 2005 in which a real human precariously hangs from a cross. Held by two leather straps under his shoulders his feet are supported only by a tilted platform at an uncomfortable angle and a small strap.

Elliott Hundley, Garland, 2007, wood, plastic, paper, pins, porcelain, ceramics, wire, string, glue, primer, spray paint, silk, etc.

I very much liked a work called Garland by Elliott Hundley which hung out from high on the wall and was made from many found objects. There is a delicateness and sweetness to the piece and the viewer can’t help but see something new with every glance.

Of course there were the obligatory Cindy Sherman works which did, in fact, add to the show.

Maurizio Cattelan was well represented and his work Now from 2004 is in its own room. JFK’s life-like body can be found barefoot in a casket. Quite a creepy work.

Jeff Koons, One Ball Total Equilibrium Tank, 1985, glass, iron, water, and basketball

On Floor 2 the one Koons work confronts the viewer immediately after exiting the elevator.

Maurizio Cattelan, All, 2007, White Carrara marble

A work by Cattelan called All from 2007 that was also on view at the Punta della Dogana last summer is on view here. Tino Seghal’s 2002 work This is Propaganda is recited by a security guard.

One artist wose work I was pleased to see but that I did not understand why it was included in the show was Mark Grotjahn’s. I love the textures and layers and softness in his work but what does it have to do with the body per se?

Tim Noble and Sue Webster, Black Narcissus, 2006, rubber, wood, and light projector

Tim Noble and Sue Webster’s Black Narcissus from 2006 is made up of black rubber hands, fingers and penises that when configured a certain way cast a shadow of two head in profile projected on the wall.

Kiki Smith, Untitled (Skin), 1992, cast aluminum

And an interesting Kiki Smith called Skin from 1992 that reminded me of a Jasper Johns sculp-metal work.

The show has a lot on view and some artists have more than one work in the show: Gober, Kiki Smith (perhaps because all of her work deals with the human body), David Altmejd, Paul McCarthy, and Chris Ofili to name a few. I actually enjoyed this as it affords the viewer an opportunity see a wider range of some artists’ work.