This is a very unusual post for me and I promise not to make it a habit, but I just got home from the pre-opening reception at MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) for "The Production Line of Happiness" exhibit by photographer/artist Christopher Williams. I have no idea how this guy rates any museum show let alone a major show at MOMA. He is said to have "long enjoyed acclaim for his wryly incisive and playful photographs." I'd say his work just sucks. The beginning of the show regales the viewer with snapshots of plants and leaves, none of which are shot well or printed well. If I produced work like his I'd be laughed out of business (although some of his shots could be run-of-the-mill commercial still life shots). I will never understand "modern art". Maybe that's the difference--I'm a commercial photographer, a sell out in the eyes of anyone from Yale Art School, or California Institute of the Arts, where Williams received his B.F.A and his M.F.A.. But I'm glad to be a commercial photographer and to have consistently produced useful images for over 30 years; my clients have been glad, too. I don't need the pretentiousness associated with this kind of artwork, which seems to be more about creative writing and marketing than producing great images.
There, my 2 cents. The exhibit opens on July 27th at MOMA on 53rd Street.