Disappointed

Matthew Barney’s Cremaster Cycle is coming to the Castro, and I’ll only be able to see #3 before skipping town. Drat. Early on, I wasn’t taken by what he was doing, and dismissed him without looking very closely (my friend Christian and I went to his performance at SFMoMA in 1991[?] and rolled our eyes, seemingly contemptuous of what we thought was pretentious claptrap, but actually seething with jealousy that this young out-of-towner was given a solo show at our museum), but now I’m quite dazzled by his technical accomplishment and very interested in the conceptual basis of his work. Perhaps I’m mellowing with age.  Or reading more.  But actually, I don’t think I’ll ever feel differently about the juvenilia that’s been awarded the SECA award this year (except Chris Johanson, who is without a doubt, brilliant).