I was at the PMA recently and noticed the absence of Philadelphia artist Tristin Lowe‘s “Untitled” (Dysfunctional Chair)” in the contemporary gallery where it had been lurking between a Jeff Wall photo light box and a Gerhard Richter painting. Here’s my post from last November when I discovered Lowe’s insertion into the collection — a first local placement in the contemporary galleries in recent memory. And here’s another post by Rob Matthews, who works at the PMA, describing more about the dysfunctional chair.
I guess there’s only room for one local artist in the contemporary rooms because after I waltzed out of what I had considered Lowe’s room, sad that his piece was gone, I checked the next gallery and there it was, the local token, Edna Andrade‘s op art piece “Color Motion 4-64” (1964). (in the image above, that’s the Andrade on the wall, right, behind the Brillos. Image below is the piece, a true hurt the eye accomplishment.)
The Andrade looks great in the triangular arrangement with Warhol‘s three Brillo boxes (1964) and Richard Anuszkiewicz‘s op piece “Knowledge and Disappearance,” 1961.
I’m happy to see the local toehold maintained at the museum, albeit in its minimal number. Would that there were room for more than one at a time. (I still think a Sarah McEneaney painting would be a great permanent addition to one of the rooms. Put in next to that big, dumb Peter Doig. Can anyone give me a good reason why not?)
