Kim Gordon’s recent show at White Columns, titled Design Office with Kim Gordon– since 1980 has been viewed and critiqued mostly as a tribute to the 1980s and 1990s art world. A 1970s student of the Otis Art Institute in LA, the Sonic Youth lady has been making visual art continuously throughout her career.
The updated version of her 1981 show ties her experimental design work with references to her own work. In her Noise Paintings, she features the names of noise bands like Weak Sisters, Sonic Youth, and Pussy Galore alongside fixtures in the gallery scene like Larry Gagosian and Barbara Gladstone. She introduces sexuality and gender politics with her “Boyfriend” works, a series of mini-skirts dowsed in thick paint.
But she doesn’t limit her field of vision to stars of decades past; she incorporates current trends like Twitter, hoping to “deconstruct art as it exists within varying life styles.” In a piece that both examines the ideals of fame and celebrity and addresses cultural norms relating to gender and sexuality, Gordon paints a Lena Dunham tweet in feathered lettering: “@lenadunham I never thought I’d be close friends with so many damaged men in their forties.”
What do you think of Gordon’s work and her use of Dunham’s tweet? Is it an effective examination of sexuality and fame?
Thanks to Flavorwire, White Columns, W Magazine, and Opening Ceremony
