Cat’s Out of the Bag, Back in the Store Room
A rumour (Tyler Greene on the usually too clever for his own good Modern Art Notes, is the only thing on paper so far) has been floating that the new MOMA is so over grown and so badly designed for crowds that one of the more minor gems has been ruined, maybe to the point of being unrepairable.
The sculpture in question is by the late Anne Truitt, an under rated post minimalist who takes the wind out of any of the theories of masculine art is big feminine art is small that have been popping out regularly since the 60s. In the middle of a critical revival, this piece called Catawba (after a form of Cape Myrtle–tying natural instinct into geographical time and place) was a recent acquisition by the museum.
The piece its self is a squat, oblongish figure painted a dark, deep green bisected by a slick black band–shorter then most of trait’s work (which can reach up to 12 feet) but still managing a stark, formalism order.
Having this piece ruined because of a badly designed crowd control is a tragedy, and having the museum obsfucate what has been damaged and why it has been is immensely frustrating.
Tyler Greene:http://www.artsjournal.com/man/