Joe Fig, “Contemplating Compositions”
Cristin Tierney
Sep. 8 - Oct. 21
In “Contemplating Compositions,” Joe Fig humorously flips the artwork-viewer relationship, as his subjects are everyday people visiting museums and galleries. Capturing them in candid moments as they engage with paintings, sculptures, and installations, Fig’s work acts as both an ethnographic study of human behavior, as well as a chronicle of recent exhibitions.
The paintings in the show build on nearly a decade of such works in which Fig travels across the country, documenting exhibitions as both a visitor and an artist. In some, his subjects are engrossed in the artworks they observe, such as the viewers staring in awe at a monumental Marilyn Minter painting. In others, interest wanes as people gaze into the distance or lean precariously over the edge of the railing in the iconic spiral of the Guggenheim, seemingly unfazed by the blockbuster Alex Katz show that surrounds them.
Throughout the series, Fig depicts some of the biggest names in modern and contemporary art with recognizable works emblematic of each practice: from Yayoi Kusama’s pumpkins and Andy Warhol’s self-portraits to Brice Marden’s wavy abstractions.
