Paint Made Flesh at the Phillips Collection

I snuck in under the wire and went to see the Paint Made Flesh exhibit at the Phillips Collection yesterday.  Today is the last day, and I’ve been meaning to go, well, since it opened.  I decided to join the museum, since a basic membership is only $60 and grants free access to all the exhibits throughout the year, along with other benefits.  Paint Made Flesh was $12 anyway, so it seemed to make sense.  Also I work nearby and have ambitious plans to occasionally drop by the museum during lunch.  

The exhibit was great, and much more expansive than other exhibits I’ve seen at the Phillips– it takes up the whole third floor of the new building.  It also seemed to feature a lot more high-impact works by prominent artists than other exhibits the Collection has offered.  I especially liked the two on display from John Currin, Lucean Freud’s  ”Naked Man, Back View,” and “Woman” by de Kooning.      

Here is one by Currin, “Hobo,” modeled on his wife:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the painting by Freud, a grandson of Sigmund Freud, called “Naked Man, Back View.”  The subject is a popular London drag queen and performance artist, but here he is striped down and looks vulnerable:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is “Woman,” by de Kooning.  I’m ambivalent about it because it is a vicious portrayal of a woman (the colors and brush strokes are violent and she is practically bearing her teeth), but de Kooning’s emotion really comes through.  The placard next to the painting said it was evidence of de Kooning’s “conflicted” feelings about women because the subject is portrayed as aggressive and appalling but soft and seductive at the same time.  The latter description didn’t come through for me, but I was still drawn to the piece:    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you have time to make it to the exhibit today before it closes, you should.  If not, you can see a video tour of the exhibit here.