Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Doppelgangers at Mike Weiss

(above, Martin C. Herbst at Mike Weiss Gallery)


(above, ManRay)

I've been thinking of reference a lot lately when I go to shows. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn't. Walking by the Martin C. Herbst show at Mike Weiss Gallery I have to say I was intrigued by the art at the end of the space. I literally thought, "Oh, look, it's Metro Pictures' new Tony Oursler exhibit." Alas, I was quite wrong. But I couldn't shake a bit of an unclean feeling. When art references an influence, it's one thing; when it appears a doppleganger, it's another. Wearing one's heart on one's sleeve can be kismet.

So even though I was a bit disheartened at first, I must admit-- to quote Jim Carrey in "Dumb and Dumber," now, "Ah like it... Ah like it a laht." Of course, Mr. Oursler himself is not necessarily always one for "originality" either, as seen below. I'll let you decide for yourself.

(above, Herbst at Weiss installation photo)

(above, Tony Oursler)


Oursler opens February 28th at the above link. The Herbst show runs through Feb. 21st.

4 comments:

Steppen Wolf said...

Intriguing..

Anonymous said...

Its amazing how "Dumb and Dumber" is still relevant to this day. My favorite moment in that classic is "Do you want to hear the most annoying sound in the world?" I watched it on youtube recently, it still makes me laugh.

Tom

Oly said...

It should have won the Oscar. I'm serious. It's THAT good.
My fave still is the Jeff Daniels on the toilet scene.

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