C’mon--Lighten Up

Suvan Geer’s March 26 review of On Kawara’s paintings praised his obsession with monochromatic canvases, which have on them nothing more than a date for each day of the year, as some form of idealism. To Geer, this repetitive formula “is almost a spiritual detachment. It is simply the fact of his existence that must be considered as giving him value as an artist, not the art objects he produces.” To underscore this philosophical observation, it should be noted that each of these objects, denoting a few days in the artist’s life, sold from $22,000 to $45,000.

C’mon, lighten up. D’ya really think that On Kawara was thinking of “Earth Day plus 2” when he painted that epochal April 24, 1990, on that empty canvas? Gee, he’s been doing that every day since 1966 and selling them! Yup, the April 24, 1990, went for $35,000--that’s almost $3,000 per number, including the comma. It seems to me that April 24 can as easily be seen as April Fool’s Day plus 23. And in the Geerian interpretation of Kawarian ideational minimalism, the selection of one referential point would still further free the work from content, so that we can value the artist even more--instead of the mere object he has produced. (Look, Mom, I could be a contemporary art critic.)

In Geer’s view, Kawara’s obsession with canvases empty except for the date is idealism. Maybe, but since he only releases a few of them per year and therefore does not saturate the market, it seems to me that he is not “indifferent to the object’s value.” In fact, he could teach profitable business sense and tactics to those earthbound artists who are trying to create something new on their canvases rather than milk forever a banal idea. Do not misunderstand me: If Kawara can get away with it, good for him. And of course, collectors and galleries are free to follow any aesthetic or investment strategy they choose, but one would hope that art critics could bring more sensitivity to art other than silly philosophizing.

JULES MARGOLIS

Laguna Hills