Village Voice, May 5-11, 2004
“Borough Hall” (excerpt)
By Jerry Saltz

"Open House: Working in Brooklyn," the smorgasbord with which the Brooklyn Museum is celebrating its snazzy new glass entrance, lives up to its name. This is a show to which seemingly every artist of any reputation working in Brookyn has been invited. What's more, they all showed up. According to the curators, Charlotta Kotik and Tumelo Mosaka, no one declined the invitation. It's a lively party.

It's also a mess. "Open House" has no point of view and ostensibly no standards, other than working in Brooklyn. This is a shame. Had it been more selective and adventurous and included multiple works by fewer artists, "Open House" would have been much better and more memorable. The curators are more interested in leaving no stones unturned than in really looking under them. (And they missed artists like Sue Williams, Christian Holstad, Janine Antoni, Jason Middlebrook, Karen Heagle, and Cheney Thompson, among other worthies.) There are 199 artists in "Open House." Most of them are very good. Some are outstanding. Pressed to list artists who stand out, I'd name Kristin Baker, Wangechi Mutu, Ricci Albenda, Fred Tomaselli, Ward Shelley, Luis Gispert, Elana Herzog, Kirsten Hassenfeld, Phong Bui, Dawn Clements, Diana Cooper, Patricia Cronin, Brady Dollarhide, and Kate Gilmore. But naming names is futile. "Open House" is self-negating. It is less an exhibition than a shout-out. Some might call it "Lesser New York."

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