Curb Your Enthusiasm

Claudia Rousseau, writing about Amy Lin for the Gazette:

The work of emerging regional artist Amy Lin, now on view at the Heineman Myers Gallery in Bethesda, presents something of a conundrum. The interest it has generated, and the sales, threaten to make it suspiciously too popular to be taken seriously. Couple that with a widespread fascination with the artist's technique — hundreds of small circles of varying sizes hand-drawn in curving strings with little tail-like ends — discussions of Lin's work tend to be on the level of a "temple of toothpicks" rather than the kind of analytical response usually accorded abstract compositions. What passes for commentary on her work has tended to focus on the amazing number of dots, the sort of thing that could be done with a computer in short order, but which Lin tediously, obsessively, draws with colored pencils. But does this emphasis on the "wow" effect do it justice? If there were no more interest here than the dazzlingly meticulous way they are made, would they really be worth looking at?

That lede alone is easily one of the most useful things written about Lin's work so far—though there has been no shortage of articles about her. Outlets that have crowned the young artist include the Washingtonian, which listed her as one of 2007's forty Washingtonians under age 40 to watch. The Washington Post has heaped praise on the artist to the point of redundancy.

Rousseau continues:

The fact is, once past that level, there is much to be seen and thought about here, and the artist's much overlooked serious intent, particularly in terms of self-expression, deserves some attention.

That is where our opinions on Lin's work diverge. (For reasons not least of which being that artist's intent is cited as the work's saving grace.) I have never seen an inkling of the Eastern influence, artistic or philosophical, that Lin's admirers seem to find in her work. I don't think her work shows incredibly obsessive markmaking—in fact I wouldn't even think to describe it in those terms, even if she does draw many circles on medium- to large-scaled canvases. I don't understand either why this technique is fascinating. Frankly, I don't buy that people truly believe it is. Lin's work is colorful, it's precious, it's easy and accessible, market friendly, decorative. The work I have seen by the artist (which does not include pieces recently shown by Heineman Myers) is out of step with any conversation about abstraction, medium, composition, etc., taking place in the art world today. It escapes me why her work has garnered any attention at all; at best, she's the poor man's Linn Meyers.

Posted by Kriston at January 8, 2008 12:08 PM