RECOMMENDED Over the past few years, Versteeg has established himself as an artist capable of playful and creative interventions into ubiquitous digital media. This exhibit, however, is lackluster. The work itself is fairly nice to look at, particularly prints like “Superhighway” and “Red Dragon,” “algorithmically generated images” with strong hues and pleasant loopy patterns—although the insistent red, white and black color scheme kept me wondering when the White Stripes were going to show up. My objection is that none of the work transcends its surface, particularly the installation dominating most of the gallery. On one wall, a miniature LCD screen displays an appropriated Napster ad; facing it is a large round suspended black-and-white canvas. Completing the pseudo-triptych is the video “Untitled Film 4,” a projection of randomly chosen Flickr images with occasional gallery snapshots mixed in—underwhelming, given the sheer amount of material on hand. Missing is the transformative energy Versteeg displayed in past works such as “Untitled Film 1” (2004), which projected a live feed of the names of recently deceased Americans as closing film credits, as well as the playfulness of “Independence Day” (2004), a DVD copy of the film paused at the moment of the White House’s destruction. (A D Jameson) Through January 19 at Rhona Hoffman Gallery
Related Stories
Reflections of Trauma: A Review of "Enter the Mirror" at the Museum of Contemporary Art Each piece in "Enter the Mirror" at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago reflects on a trauma, an injustice, an unfortunate demise, or a total loss of life. The artworks in the show range from the 1970s to the mid-2010s, and include installation, video, sculpture, film, photography, and painting.
Civics Lesson: A Review of Sculpture Milwaukee Sculpture Milwaukee has returned for a fourth year, transforming downtown Milwaukee’s landscape with A-list artists exhibiting outdoor sculpture.
