Vapor of Gasoline

Interesting exhibition at White Cube, Masons’ Yard, looking at American art since the 1970s which look to examine and deconstruct the American Dream.

It was nice to see painting and sculpture shown together in this show but I must admit if I’d not read the press release I’m not sure I would have spotted or understood the theme. It is a theme which interests me as I do wonder if the sentence "right to the pursuit of happiness" in the Declaration of Independence is at the root of a lot of America’s problems. What does that mean?

I loved Cady Noland’s “Untitled (Walker)” a Stars and Stripes draper over a clothes rail attached to a zimmer frame, an interesting state of the nation piece. Also Richard Price’s joke’s on monotone backgrounds emphasising the disruptive nature of humour, and I admit I did laugh out loud at a couple of them.

I also liked a weird but effective picture by David Hammons which included a body print on paper and a face showing through the torso. It was good to see a Mapplethorpe included, a large print of a dollar bill.

Closed on 21 October 2017

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