Proofs and Refutations at David Zwirner

Proofs and Refutations
Date: FRIDAY, MARCH 11TH 2011 – TUESDAY, APRIL 26TH 2011
Venue: David Zwirner, 525 West 19th Street
AFC’s Rating: 7/10 (Will Brand)

“Proofs and Refutations”, co-curated by a Mathematics professor at City College, might be the smartest show of the year so far. It’s a diverse body of work we’ve rarely seen before and almost never seen together, relating to math both in content and – significantly – in working method. The press release is insightful, the display is great (Zwirner rarely fails in this regard), the artists are some of the more interesting names of the past fifty years; in fact, the only weakness in this show is the work. Smart works are in attendance, but few hold anything but the most basic visual interest, and many drive right past “smart” into “impenetrable”. This is 2011, so neither of those is necessary for [merely] good art, and this is precisely the quality of curatorial effort that could salvage that; still, all but the most conceptually-minded visitor will walk out feeling unsatisfied.

Tagged as: Adrian Piper, Al Taylor, Alexandra Whitney, Alfred Jensen, André Cadere, Bruce Nauman, Dan Graham, David Zwirner, Dorothea Rockburn, Francis Alÿs, Georg Herold, Henry Flynt, Lee Lozano, Man Ray, Max Neuhaus, R. H. Quaytman, Sigmar Polke, Simone Forti, Trisha Brown, VALIE EXPORT