Jack Kirby

Typically when artists curate, they pursue their own influences and interests, which brings its own kind of validity. It's borne more of the immediate coalescing agency of making work rather than engaging the predictable facets and authority of art historical discourse. It is a time honored tradition and instead of being capricious, it often interjects that often undervalued but very powerful voice of the "true fan" that is missing from most curatorial programs. Let's just say there is juice when the combinations aren't so dry and something personal in the present is at stake. Matthew Barney's interest in Houdini for instance.

Thus, I'm excited about Fighting Men: Leon Golub, Peter Voulkos and Jack Kirby at Lewis and Clark College's Hoffman Gallery. The show, "probes images of violence and masculinity," making an interesting counterpoint to Kara Walker at Reed and the Body Beautiful at PAM. Guest curated by artist and writer Daniel Duford (whose own work is a pretty straight forward synthesis of these giants) the idea of combining a painter (Golub), ceramicist (Voulkos) and perhaps the greatest comic book cartoonist (Kirby) makes perfect sense. Frankly, I've always preferred Duford's taste in influences over the work he produces and respect the balls it takes to summon these three masters, whose long shadows have dogged him critically. To be fair, of today's artists perhaps only Raymond Pettibon would be expected to stand up well to these titans and Philip Guston has already been linked with all three in art history.

Ronna and Eric Hoffman Gallery of Contemporary Art | Lewis and Clark College | 0615 S.W. Palatine Hill Road, MSC 95
Opening: October 25th 5-7PM
Curators talk: November 1, 5:00PM (Miller 105)
Exhibition run: October 25, 2012 to March 3, 2013
Gallery hours: Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
For information: 503-768-7687