Narcissism & Bad Poetry at the Getty Villa

Has any contemporary show not sponsored by Chanel gotten worse buzz than Jim Dine at the Getty Villa? It has yet to open, and already the New York Times is printing a searing letter from Christine Chronis, who sat with Dine on the board of the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center.

"His bust is an unapologetically narcissistic, seven-foot self-portrait (as Orpheus!) surrounded by Sirens, and the poetry scrawled on the wall, as far as I can tell from the brief sample, is bad."

The Getty Villa needs contemporary art like a fish needs a bicycle. That doesn't mean they can't do it, it just means that anything they choose to do should be pretty special. With all the possibilities out there, Jim Dine???

Memo to Michael Brand. Artists we don't need to see at the Getty Villa anytime soon: Red Grooms, Dale Chihuly, Niki de Saint Phalle, Banksy, Spencer Tunick, Robert Longo, Shepard Fairey, a survey of Leger's late ceramic sculptures...

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