Detroit Hour
November1997
Art Scene
Consider the bird flipped
Flipping the bird at the art world
is a favorite pastime for
“Museum” might be stretching it a bit. With only 500 square feet of exhibition space, it’s a lot tinier than most museums. And the only work shown is Bourgeau’s – though it’s attributed as “from the collection.”
“In my work I’m always prodding the art world,” says the 47-year-old installation and video artist. “Now with this space it’s like, ‘What am I going to do about it?’”
The announcement for last season’s Art Until Now show listed dozens of this century’s art legends, and then exhibited nothing but matted and framed nameplates – enough for a society impressed with brand names. Through Nov. 28, The Wrong Show addresses controversy with a doghouse containing a video loop of an African man being stabbed repeatedly by a spear, a framed, unattributed quote about the evils of multi-culturalism (pearls of wisdom by Pat Buchanan) and other works. December brings the suspiciously benign Painting in the ‘90’s.
Bourgeau needn’t look any farther than his own visitors for inspiration. Last summer a group of major art patrons exited abruptly. “They left the gallery and I went outside and watched them run down the road in different directions. It was like a comedy. But then the meter-reader lady came in and stayed an hour and a half.”
-Veronica Pasfield
