On the way to the Wilfred piece I walked through the LACMA modern gallery and was sort of shocked. Usually when I look at modern art I find it to be masculine and tough-looking. But yesterday, everything seemed wispy and arty. One of the Kienholz pieces in particular struck me (History as a planter, left) . In my mind Kienholz's work looks dense and grimy with roplex as thick as gravy. But the piece I saw looked contrived. The brushwork in particular was very self-consciously arty. It reminded me of a bad performance, someone trying to get across the idea of grit but being too civilized to get it right.
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