1993: Experimental Jet Set, Trash, and No Star at the New Museum

by Paddy Johnson on February 26, 2013 · 2 comments The L Magazine

NYC 1993. Installation view. Photo: Paddy Johnson

This week at The L Magazine, I dedicate 1,000 words or so to the New Museum’s 1993 exhibition. I recommend it.

Those looking for a brief reprieve from contemporary culture may find solace in the New Museum’s “1993: Experimental Jet Set, Trash, No Star.” The show surveys the New York art world in 1993, which as this show tells it, may not be much better than what we’ve got now, but was at least more open about its displeasure with the status quo. It is a raw, imperfect exhibition whose narrative is unusually informed by the route one takes through the museum, and it is worth every minute you can spend on it.

I began on the fifth floor, a level recently described as the “Info Annex” by Postmaster’s Magda Sawon in a tweet. Given the size of the exhibition space and education carpeting, pretty much everything assembled by show curators Massimiliano Gioni, Gary Carrion-Murayari, Jenny Moore, and Margot Norton is seen as secondary. That’s a real shame, because the arrangement of material was more thoughtful than it may appear. Here, a row of 12 CRT screen TVs line the gallery wall (one for each month of the year), flashing text blurbs about important pop culture, political, and world events, offering viewers a real sense of the dominant medium and issues at the time.

To read the full piece click here.

{ 2 comments }

Brian Spies February 26, 2013 at 5:22 pm

Really enjoyed this review, can’t wait to see the show for myself.

Paddy Johnson February 26, 2013 at 5:27 pm

Thanks! I’ll be curious to hear your thoughts on this.

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