Manny Farber

There is a Manny Farber exhibit at PS.1 in Long Island City, New York right now and through January 16th. 252rohmers20kneefor20web1

The exhibit has the interesting distinction of showing some of his earlier abstract work alongside his more recent representational paintings. The latter consist largely of from-above views of big cluttered tables. But they are flat and lacking perspective in a way that suggests someone who has come back to the world from having been outside, way outside, in pure space for awhile.

Of course, it is difficult to imagine Farber in pure space for too long because he is so exhuberant. He simply loves the surfaces of things, the colors and textures of it all. And that is also the way that he watched and wrote about movies. Indeed, you can’t really start to love Manny Farber until you read his criticism and look at his paintings as a whole.

When you do, you will surely start to love him, because his generosity as an artist is so expansive. Perhaps I can reference my own further thoughts on the matter here.