Comments on: Art at Christmas: Fernando Botero, Elija-Liisa Ahtila, Ludwig Blum https://artcritical.com/2011/12/22/botero-ahtila-blum/ Fri, 23 Dec 2011 01:10:07 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.5.3 By: Michael Angelo Tata https://artcritical.com/2011/12/22/botero-ahtila-blum/#comment-13811 Fri, 23 Dec 2011 01:10:07 +0000 https://artcritical.com/?p=21439#comment-13811 Carrier’s seasonal survey of contemporary exhibitions that resonate with the chaos of jangling Bloomingdales bags and the warmth of religious observance totally hits the spot, and the mark. His remarks on the various valences of fleshiness within a Botero context in particular present important reflections about class, wealth, corporealization, control and privilege for our Biggest Loser culture, and leave me thinking about Eve Sedgwick’s vital distinction between Fat Art and Thin Art.

As he points out, the fiction of a corpulent Christ is not as plausible as that of a video-arted Annunciation that displays the tromperie at work behind angelic illusion, while the modern visage of a placid Jerusalem presents itself as chrnological partner to Andy Warhol’s notorious Brillo Box in a kind of pluralistic regression. Altogether, Carrier’s miniature cycle of reviews comes at the perfect time, and is a welcome enrichment of holiday festivity.

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