Less is a Bore: Robert Kushner at ICA Boston

Robert Kushner, The Wedding Dress, 1978

Robert Kushner’s “The Wedding Dress" (1976) and "Cincinnati C" (1978) are on view now at Institute of Contemporary Art Boston’s latest exhibition: "Less is a Bore: Maximalist Art and Design" through September 22, 2019.

“Borrowing its attitude from architect Robert Venturi’s witty retort to Mies van der Rohe’s modernist edict 'less is more,' 'Less Is a Bore' shows how artists, including those affiliated with the Pattern & Decoration movement of the 1970s, have sought to rattle the dominance of modernism and minimalism. Encouraged by the pluralism permeating many cultural spheres at the time, these artists accommodated new ideas, modes, and materials, challenging entrenched categories that marginalized non-Western art, fashion, interior design, and applied art.” — ICA/Boston

Robert Kushner, Cincinnati C, 1978

Robert Kushner, "Les Chemins du Sud" at MRAC Occitanie, Sérignan, France

"Les chemins du Sud" - (Journey to the South)

June 23 - November 3, 2019
Musée Regional D'Art Contemporain, Serignan, France
Curated by Emmanuelle Luciani & Charlotte Cosson with Southway Studio

(Journey to the South) focuses on the heritage of Matisse, Bonnard, Dufy and other historic artists who "traveled South" and their connection to contemporary and young artists that could be seen as the heirs. The project will regroup more than 50 artists and will travel through the 20th century to today, connecting these times but also Europe to the USA.

Featured are artists from the Pattern and Decoration movement (Betty Woodman, Robert Kushner, Joyce Kozloff ) who, from the 1970s, embraced so-called minor arts.

Below: Robert Kushner guides the installation of “Aida,” 1979, at MRAC Serignan

Pattern, Crime and Decoration at Le Consortium, Dijon

“Pattern, Crime and Decoration” travels from MAMCO Geneva to Le Consortium in Dijon, France. 

16 May 2019 – 20 October 2019
Opening: Thursday, May 16, 6:00pm
Le Consortium Museum

Pattern, Crime & Decoration, curated by Franck Gautherot and Seungduk Kim, takes a look back at a 1970s-1980s art movement that met with international success in the 1980s. Most of the artists involved were reacting to Postwar dominant schools of thought, most notably to Minimalism and Conceptualism while also criticizing the Western, patriarchal domination that generally permeates Modernism. This group gathered around “pattern” and “decoration” reconnected with forms regarded as marginal and claimed the concept of decoration was a truly repressed form of modernity. A mainly American movement, Pattern & Decoration was supported by Holly Solomon Gallery in New York and Bruno Bischofberger in Switzerland. It gathered artists such as Valerie Jaudon, Tina Girouard, Joyce Kozloff, Robert Kushner, Kim MacConnel, Tony Robbin, Miriam Schapiro, Ned Smyth, Mario Yrisarry, Robert Zakanitch, Cynthia Carlson, Brad Davis, Richard Kalina, Jane Kaufman, Rodney Ripps, Betty Woodman, George Woodman and Joe Zucker.

Robert Kushner at Art Fair Tokyo, March 8-10, 2019

A selection of Robert Kushner works on view with Yoshiaki Inoue Gallery at Art Fair Tokyo, March 8 – March 10, 2019. 
Tokyo International Forum, Hall E, Booth #G09.

Robert Kushner, Pink Rosebud Night Sky, 2018
Oil, acrylic, ink, paper, silk brocade on panel

Robert Kushner, Rudbeekia Spring Sky, 2018
Oil, acrylic, ink, paper, silk brocade on panel

Robert Kushner, Pink Wedding Cake Rosebud, 2018
Oil, acrylic, ink, paper, silk brocade on panel

Pattern and Decoration: Ornament as Promise

Now on view in Vienna: Pattern and Decoration: Ornament as Promise

Saturday, February 23, 2019 to Sunday, September 08, 2019

‘Pattern and Decoration: Ornament as Promise’ at Mumok, Vienna.
Pictured from left to right: Karola Kraus, Manuela Ammer, Curator, Ned Smyth, Robert Kushner, Joyce Kozloff, Robert Zakanitch
Image credit: Niko Havranek

Robert Kushner, Pink Leaves, 1979

Ornament as Promise was the premise of the Pattern and Decoration movement in the United States (1975–1985). In this exhibition, mumok, vienna presents the rich collection of works from this movement of Peter and Irene Ludwig, in the largest presentation of Pattern and Decoration in German-speaking Europe since the 1980s.
With oriental-style mosaics, monumental textile collages, paintings, installations, and performances, in the 1970s committed feminist artists like Miriam Schapiro, Joyce Kozloff, Valerie Jaudon, and Robert Kushner aimed to bring color, formal diversity, and emotion back into art. Decoration played a key role, with its connotations of the techniques of artisanship.

Various ornamental traditions, from the Islamic world to North American Indians to Art Deco, were incorporated in their works, opening up a view beyond geographical and historical boundaries. A proximity to folk art was sought as a deliberate counter to the “purism” of the art of the 1960s.

With works by Brad Davis, Frank Faulkner, Tina Girouard, Valerie Jaudon, Joyce Kozloff, Robert Kushner, Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt, Kim MacConnel, Miriam Schapiro, Kendall Shaw, Ned Smyth, Robert Zakanitch, and Joe Zucker

Curated by Manuela Ammer

To order a copy of the catalogue, visit here. 

For more background, please consider reading: “Funky, Funny and Fussy: Reassessing the Pattern and Decoration Movement” by Jonathan Griffin

The project was initiated by the Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst Aachen and realized in cooperation with the mumok – Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien. Following the venues in Aachen and Vienna, the exhibition will be on view at the Ludwig Museum – Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest.

Some photos from the artists’ talk on February 23rd, 2019. Images: Niko Havranek 

Robert Kushner, Several Tulips, 2019

Dupatta-topia, my home-coined word meaning “The City of Dupattas” continues to unfold and expand. And the color of India, so present in these vintage textiles, seems to be calling out to me. Reds, pinks, greens, gold.

Several Tulips, 72 x 144″, two separate canvases, oil, acrylic, gold leaf, sequins, embroidery, rhinestones on fabric, 2019