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Albright Knocks
Chris Ashley describes a frustrating visit to the Albright-Knox museum in Buffalo here. Seems the museum is, um, fudging on the terms of its gift of Clyfford Still paintings:
When I was ready to see the Stills I asked someone at the desk where his paintings are.Also amusing is the press release for an upcoming show there called "Extreme Abstraction," featuring Linda Besemer, David Reed, David Batchelor, and Katharina Grosse, which also consists of "Extreme Fundraising Events," an "Extreme Dinner," and an "Extreme After Party." There is an extreme space commitment, as well--Chris says large parts of the collection were unviewable while the museum prepared for it."Oh, yeah, we showed him a few months ago."
"You mean there are none on display right now?"
"No, we just showed them."
"Doesn't that violate the conditions of his gift, that a portion be displayed in a dedicated room at all times?"
(Shrug) "I don't know anything about that."
Huh? On the web page regarding the Albright's Stills it says, "According to the terms of the gift, the paintings must be shown in their own room, all of the time, and never loaned to other museums." OK!
Afterthought on Clyfford Still: I kind of like those craggy, ultraserious paintings, which I saw at the A-K in '94, and the "stoner concentration" Still paid to his edges, as one painter I know put it. Hey, someone has to defend that holy-terror-even-in-death.