Quinn vs. Quinn: HIDE/SEEK at the Brooklyn Museum

(Felix Gonzales-Torres, “Untitled” (Portrait of Ross in L.A.), 1991. Candies individually wrapped in multicolored cellophane, endless supply. Overall dimensions vary with installation, ideal weight: 175 lb.)  

Welcome to Quinn vs. Quinn, your review source for arts, culture, and whatever else we both deem acceptable to bring to your attention! Penned by Erica (Quinn) and (Quinn) Daly. 

One afternoon in January we saw the titillating HIDE/SEEK: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture, at the Brooklyn Museum through February 12, 2012.

EQ: Like I said, you put “sexual identity” in a press release; I’m probably going to the show.

QD: Hell yeah. Just to be seen there. That said, it had some merits of its own, though.

EQ: Totally— the curation was TIGHT. Great progression from the 19th C. to the now-times, starting with lots of pent up lovely things from before it was okay to be gay, sneaking coded and quietly through the McCarthy era and ending in the dawn of AIDS, and the bright activism that came out of that period.

QD: Yeah, I was impressed. It’s easy for that kind of setup to feel forced and overly instructive, but it did a really good job of providing a subconscious narrative. It lets you draw your own conclusions while still providing context.

EQ: Highlights for me definitely included Felix Gonzales-Torres, Romaine Brooks, and WITHOUT A DOUBT Jasper Johns— baby, those hinges. It was a pretty block-bustery show, but still featured a fair amount of relative ‘unknowns’, which helps to round things out.

QD: Agreed. Although the Mapplethorpe and Warhol pieces were great, I mostly liked the front room— the Brooks was my overall favourite. I liked the way that the idea of desire didn’t have to be so formally coded - It reminded me of a really funny inside joke that you know would get you banned from the family forever if they ever figured out what you were actually alluding to when you said “Banana Pudding.”

EQ: And so many excellent ideas at work here— the complexities of looking, sexual identity, and all sorts of duality of meaning. This is always best seen in the artists from the 50s, Johns, Rauschenberg, who needed to express themselves secretly, who had adjoining doors but separate rooms. This show did a great job of arousing all manner of feelings in me! Oh my. What an afternoon.

QD: It was a good show, but I think my initial thumbs-up trended sideways as I worked my way back. I was familiar with the stuff from the [Warhol] screen tests on, and it didn’t hit me with that fresh enjoyment of checking out new works for the first time. Erica gives this a big thumbs up, but I’m going with a little angle on mine. So, 1 & 3/4 thumbs up from the QvQ crew!

QvQ gives HIDE/SEEK 1.75 thumbs up, at the Brooklyn Museum through February 12, 2012. 

(Erica Quinn is a photographer/sad girl poet/cat blogger currently pursuing her MFA at the Pratt Institute and otherwise writing for Finch and Ada.) 

(Quinn Daly is a retired horse trainer, writer, and photographer. He enjoys cocktails, food, and “art, in general.”)