SCHOFFMAN: PAINTER by Currado Malaspina

I don’t always agree with Schoffman, whose sectarian view of art history seems to narrow his otherwise catholic sensibilities. For example, in his 1996 lecture, “Vessels Of Common Character,” he spoke a bit too passionately of the connection between 14th century Ottoman handcrafts and the work of Micah Carpentier. At the time, the name Carpentier was as ubiquitous in Paris as the name Schoffman is today in Los Angeles. Carpentier’s installation, “The Song Of Degrees” was making its way through the contemporary art museums of Western Europe, and I ran into him at Bistro Pumelle on rue Sans Souci. I asked him about Schoffman’s reading of his work and he just rolled his eyes. “Schoffman’s a good painter, perhaps even a great painter,” he said, “he should stick to what he’s good at, and leave the speculation to the specialists.”