Singular Gems—SF MoMA’s New Amy Sillman
By LIZ HAGER
Painting is a physical thinking process to continue an interior dialogue, a way to engage in a kind of internal discourse, or sublanguage—mumbling, rambling, stream of thought, murmuring, thinking out loud, naming, uttering, a voice in your head.
—Amy Sillman statement
Amy Sillman, U.S. of Alice the Goon, 2008, oil on canvas, 84 x 93″ (courtesy SF MoMA).
The other day, my mind wonderfully preoccupied, I wandered absent-mindedly off the elevator on the second floor at SF MoMA. I was immediately greeted by Amy Sillman’s 2008 painting U.S. of Alice the Goon. Actually, “arrested” might be the better description of the painting’s effect on me. At first, I was jolted out of my daydream by its shear boisterousness—dynamic shapes and day-glo hues. Then I noticed the echoes of Diebenkorn in its paint application and brush work reminiscent of de Koonig’s. I stood for a while, contemplating just exactly how radiant chartreuse, orange, emerald green, cadmium yellow, and loud pink could miraculously work together without dissolving into kitschy overload. (Does the underlying oblique grid tame those powerful colors?) I lingered for a while longer, looking and listening for what more the painting would tell me.
US of Alice the Goon shows off Sillman’s signature style, which pits often contradictory elements against one another. Like fragments of another conversation, vestiges of figures pop out here and there (fists of a goon?) amid the assertive abstract shapes; neatly painted shapes are often juxtaposed with the unruly; ignored rules allow neighbors on the color wheel to battle good naturedly. References to a wide range of forebears (including Matisse I venture) may be embedded in the paintings, but only as syntax; clearly Sillman builds her own style of visual communication upon the patterns of the past. After nearly a century of abstract art, it seems to me that Sillman’s paintings still have something new to say about how we can experience abstraction.
I suspect that Gary Garrels, MoMA’s new Senior Curator of Painting and Sculpture (and formerly at the Hammer) had something to do with the acquisition—the painting was part of the recent “Oranges and Sardines” exhibit at the Hammer Museum in LA organized by Garrels. However she got here, I am happy to see Sillman represented at MoMA, ceremoniously displayed (at least temporarily) at the entrance to the Museum’s permanent collection galleries. I like to think that US of Alice the Goon is conversing with its 20th century ancestors, while embracing a 21st century lingo all its own.
Wider Connections
Modern Art Notes—Amy Sillman at the Hirshhorn
Amy Sillman on Saatchi Gallery online
Amy Sillman at Crown Point Press
Oranges & Sardines Exhibition Text
March 24, 2009 at 6:18 pm
I’m overjoyed with this addition to the museum – not only a great painting, but a great painting by a WOMAN! However, I sure wish they would add more pieces from the great 50’s/60’s era here in SF. I just went to a talk on Bernice Bing, another great Asian-American woman painter who has just (almost) fallen through the cracks. I’m not adverse to the museum having more paintings by Diebenkorn, Park and Dischoff but there were many women painters who also deserve recognition.
March 31, 2009 at 2:43 pm
thanks, y’all!! i really appreciate finding this by accident on the internet!!!
xxxx amy
ps quote at top: not stillman… sillman )
March 31, 2009 at 4:22 pm
Amy
An honest slip o’ finger, we stand corrected. While we’ve got your attention, we’re wondering a bit about the figurative snippets in the painting, their genesis or inspiration, as well as title reference. Who or what is Alice the Goon?
Thanks for the correction and any thoughts on our query!
April 1, 2009 at 6:36 am
Alice the Goon:
http://www.google.com/search?q=alice+the+goon
“Alice the Goon is a fictional character in E.C. Segar’s comic strip Thimble Theatre and in the “Popeye” cartoon series derived from it. …”