I
highly recommend this Artnet Magazine review of these two shows. Mr.
Ben Davis, after introducing the #1 - ranked Art Contender in
the
world, with the possible combined unified titles of; Number One Artist,
Number One
Artist/Collector and Number One Celebrity/Artist/Curator, Mr. Jeff
Koons, New York’s own Triple Threat- “Mr. Unbelievable”, versus,
the,
as yet curatorially unranked, however much more universally well-known,
and beloved by fans, big and small the world over, that Fearless Art
World Upstart, The Dark Art Horse, The Thousand This to One Longshot,
The
Rocky Balboa-Type Mr. Blood and Guts Art Curation, Shaquille O’Neal. Mr.
Davis gaves the fighters their final instructions, no low blows, “And,
oh yeah: On top of this common obsession with size, both shows’ titles
also contain a reference to dicks.”
After that critic turned referee
Ben Davis fearlessly hops into the ring with these twin gargantuans in
their respective fields and gives us a blow-by-blow recapitulation of
four distinct rounds of very thoughtful and extremely well-informed
curatorial judging. Round 1: Artists
Selected, Round 2: Organization,
Round 3: Ego and Round 4: Overall Impression…. of both shows.
And from
the very start it is an extremely exciting contest. His review had me
on the edge of my seat. At this point I’m forced to admit that I
haven’t seen either one of these shows yet, however reading this
review,
I’m extremely excited and motivated to go see them both, in one day, as
soon as possible? Because, without this review, I would’ve thought it
would be a no contest? Shaq, as the
over the hill, slaphappy palooka
Rocky Balboa in “Rocky”
compared to Jeff Koons’s undisputed
World
Heavyweight Champion Apollo Creed, who has the unconditional
backing of
the art world’s answer to the flamboyant
boxing promoter Don King, Uber
Collector, and New Museum Board Bember Dakis Joannou, as his
manager,
trainer, corner and cut man? (Don’t get in that ring Shaq, is not a
contest -- it’s suicide!)
So, even after 17 brutal years in
the NBA,
Shaq, massively overmatched, institutionally, financially,
curatorially, and let’s face it artistically! But with the
eye-of-the-tiger, and with super-human bull-like determination, he
answers the bell
at every round, and even though in the early rounds is taking a brutal
institutional
punishing at the hands of a much larger exhibition space. Yet, he
steadfastly refuses to stay down, even when repeatedly knocked down,
eventually he begins to use his secret weapon, “the rope a trope”, an
artistic variant of Mohamed Ali’s
successful “rope a dope”, relentlessly absorbing these withering
punches from Koons, The King of All Art, Shaq's “the rope a trope,” (or meme, a postulated unit of
cultural ideas, symbols or practices, which can be transmitted from one
mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals or other
imitable phenomena) starts to wear on the exquisitely
institutionally
conditioned counterpuncher Koons, because as Ben Davis
notes early on, “The two spectacles,
indeed, have a remarkably similar
feel. In both cases, ironic post-conceptual sculpture is front and
center, along with a fair amount of painting and photography of a
slick, media-smart type. Partly this just reflects the taste
represented by the respective collections that Shaq and Koons are
working from…” And Shaq, like Rocky, proves that heart is as
strong as
talent when it comes to taste. Or something like that?
Spoiler
Alert: In the end it’s not even a split decision, Art Referee Ben Davis
rates the contest a Draw! Which, in and of itself, is one of the
most
shocking outcomes ever expected for this type of
Cash of The Titans? The art
bookies must be sick with disbelief? A
Draw?
Doesn’t that automatically call for a rematch, which, considering the
shellacking that both brawlers took in this contest, they'd be fools to
accept?
And a lot has been said, and whispered, murmured and
shouted about how this fight was rigged, the fix was in, it was nothing
more than a big payday for the boxing promoter, I mean major collector?
But here we have another exquisite example of The Revenge Of Art History? I think
everybody wins; the foundation, the museum, the
collector, the artist/curator, and even Shaq. In the words of that Tom
Petty song, “You can stand me up at the gates of hell, but I won’t back
down.”
However, even though I shouldn't prejudge the outcome before I see the fight, I think that Ben Davis was maybe too kind to rate it a Draw. I think on the most subjective pop cultural round, Round 3: Ego, Shaq probably won that one t too? So Shaq was robbed as deserves a rematch. But we learned that still undisputed reigning champ of the art, Jeff Koons, though bloodied but unbowed, still has a reputation of such length and girth as to cast an epic priapic shadow over the entire art world, yet he remains the extremely polite and thoughtful champion he has grown to be.