At first glance, the Contemporary Wing’s venue for its “Next Generation” exhibit appears to be a lone warehouse, surrounded by a gritty combination of chain link fences and forgotten furniture. Boasting a compilation of work by 12 upcoming artists selected by the seasoned masters of the Corcoran’s “30 Americans” collection, this offbeat setting was clearly chosen with edgy content in mind. The pairing of “Next Gen” artists and chain link fences, however, falls flat given the lack of substance in the exhibit itself.
The drafty vastness of the warehouse serves to accommodate an eclectic range of paintings, photography, sculpture, and installation art. Arranged in a haphazard manner, the collection finds its natural starting point with the paintings of Jayson Keeling. While Keeling’s general theme of death is vague at best, his love of glitter certainly rivals Ke$ha’s. The use of this unconventional medium, however, is hardly enough to merit the innovative label the gallery hopes to place on his work.
Leaving the glitter behind, the next artist under the spotlight is Kira Lynn Harris, whose fascinating work with light installations would create a stunning effect in the right setting. However, it fails to find an appropriate stage in the form of this warehouse space, which displays only her indistinctive pastel drawings that aimlessly seek to reorient perspective in such a large, bare gallery.
The paintings of Caitlin Cherry prove one of the exhibit’s highlights, fusing the traditional combination of oil and canvas with unconventional installation art. While “The Fate of the Rebel Flag” pairs a cartoonish maelstrom of color with a cannon to convey a presumably patriotic message, the humorously titled “Disney Movies Taught Me to Cry” uses a similarly chaotic style as a distorted throwback to childhood.
Another strength of the exhibit lies in Wyatt Gallery’s photography collection, Haiti: Tent Life. Fourteen photographs document life after the disastrous earthquake, capturing Haitians amid the debris of their island while effectively striking an unexpectedly optimistic chord. Among the unremarkable installation art pieces of the exhibit, this collection provides a refreshing window to another world.
As an anthology of contemporary artwork, the exhibit fails to achieve its goal of introducing the art world’s future stars; while it features some remarkable artwork, it is hardly a picture of innovation. If this is truly the “Next Generation” of art, the future just isn’t what it used to be.
