Collection of the artist. © Dana Schutz. Courtesy of the artist and Friedrich
Petzel Gallery, New York.
Combining the absurd with the real, Dana Schutz is perhaps one of the most innovative contemporary artists to emerge in recent decades. With a vibrant color palette and a fantastical sensibility, Schutz’s work contains a level of intensity that is nearly impossible to ignore.
Beginning Nov. 11, Dana Schutz: If the Face Had Wheels will be on display at the Denver Art Museum. Featuring 31 paintings and nine drawings, the exhibition is a 10-year career survey of the artist’s work, including images from her inventive series such as Frank from Observation (2002) and newer works from her Tourettes and Verbs series.
Collection of Vicki and Kent Logan. © Dana Schutz. Courtesy of the artist and
Friedrich Petzel Gallery, New York.
In Frank as a Proboscis Monkey, Frank’s sunburned skin juxtaposed with the cool green foliage that surrounds him serves to intensify his startling appearance. “I think of color as a compositional tool and a physical sensation,” said Schutz. “Certain colors can feel very painful.”
Perhaps more striking than Schutz’s vibrant color palette is her subject matter. From people who can eat themselves (or self-eaters as Schutz calls them) to Frank, the last man on Earth (mentioned above) to icons from popular culture, Schutz presents images that combine imagination with reality.
Take her piece The Autopsy of Michael Jackson for example. Painted before Jackson’s death, the painting depicts the King of Pop’s lifeless body strewn across a table, his internal organs exposed to the viewer. In the upper right corner lies his glove. Below the iconic glove lie a red shirt, black pants and his socks. “Michael Jackson in his own way almost catalogued his own body. His glove would separate his hand from his body and his socks would set off his feet when he was dancing,” said Schutz.
Collection of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Gift of Nathalie Goyette, Théa, Joseph, Hadrien, Arthur and Philippe Lamarre in honor of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts’ 150th Anniversary. © Dana Schutz.
Courtesy of the artist and Friedrich Petzel Gallery, New York.
Or there’s How we would talk, an image that depicts a woman on the phone in a payphone booth. “I was thinking of the phrase ‘how we would’ and I like that in a way it proposes a speculative future audience,” said Schutz. “A painting can’t really tell you how to do something but it can sort of show you what it was like.” A sense of mystery emanates from the piece, as the woman’s back is toward us. In addition, the payphone booth itself is given an aged and unused feel, as shown through the dust accumulated around the woman’s fingers as she runs her hands down the glass. “Even before cellphones I felt like payphones sort of had this melancholy to them,” said Schutz.
Paintings aren’t the only thing to look forward to in Dana Schutz: If the Face Had Wheels. A number of the artist’s charcoal drawings from earlier in her career are also on display. With such a wide array of pieces and subject matter, Dana Schutz: If the Face Had Wheels provides a well-rounded view of the artist’s work. The exhibition will be on display at the Denver Art Museum from Nov. 11, 2012 to Jan. 13, 2013. For more information visit denverartmuseum.org.
Jessica Kleinman is an art and culture intern/writer for 303 Magazine. She is currently studying journalism at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Follow her posts on Twitter.
The MJ "painting" is tasteless, hideous and exploitive. Perhaps Ms Shutz should go to work for the UK outfit that produced a tabloid TV movie recreating Mr. Jackson's autopsy. Before it was stopped, the promo pictured a sheet covered body lieing on a gurney adorned with a white sparkly glove. The complete lack of human decency is staggering and don't give me the classic CYA b.s. that this is "art". It seems even vultures with paint brushes have no bottom.
@Diane I totally agree! This is tasteless! I am so tired of people using the name or image of Michael Jackson for every cause and dumb idea that they want to. This is disrespect and she should not show this especially now that he is gone. I won't go and see it. Art should make people happy and create a positive experience, not ridicule or bring up hurtful memories. What would happen if his children saw this, especially Blanket? He would be horrified! How about creating the "Autospsy of Dana Schultz: a selfportrait" instead?
A) This painting is from 2005, and not all art is for the purpose of “making people happy”. You’re telling me that Goya’s Saturn Devouring His Son’s was to make people happy. Open up your closed minds and maybe you’ll see value in things that aren’t your cup of tea. B) Obviously this art show is not for you, so don’t attend. This art show is for the people that are willing to experience all kinds of art, even the art that may make you uncomfortable. C) If Dana did a self portrait of her own autopsy, you would probably still be disgusted…. hypocrites.
Art is meant to evoke emotions, not just happiness. So stop trolling on art that makes you uncomfortable, all the great art should. Push boundaries, don’t sit there and expect happy mediocracy and then praise it because it didn’t offend anyone. I’m glad you are offended by this, because i know theres two less people at the real art shows. Have some god damn respect, let’s see your creativity expressed in a provocative, thought generating way.
So edgy, the two of you are. “Vultures with paintbrushes” and “Art should make people happy and create a positive experience”? You are both novices to the great artists that have shaped the world today… very few have “made people happy” or “create a positive experience”. Art is meant to evoke emotion from people, not just the desirable emotions. Think Goya’s Saturn Devouring His Sons made people happy? And if Dana were to do a “self portrait” autopsy of herself, you would probably still be hypocritically disgusted like you are now. I’m sick of trolls that complain when art doesn’t appeal to them, due to their closed minded view on art. Open your mind and appreciate things for what they are, don’t try to manipulate it into something it isn’t. The MJ painting was done in 2005, and frankly I’m glad you will not be going to the exhibit, leave more room for people that objectively enjoy art for the emotions it brings. This is meant to make you uncomfortable, if you can’t handle it then don’t show support.
The world is not all bunnies and butterflies, and Art is the most pure way in the world to express that. You’re more worried about Blanket and MJ’s kids than viewing something artistic without bias… cheers to you celeb gossip.