Los Angeles artist David Schoffman nurses a desperate need for reassurance. His Delphic exterior is merely a mask for his timorous, almost mousy disposition.
I met my dear friend in Rotterdam a few weeks ago as he was preparing for his most recent exhibition. Even the title of the show betrayed his deep-seated insecurities.
Made up mostly of notebooks, post-its and clumsy sketches drawn on the backs of napkins, fax paper and ATM receipts the show is a case study in reticence.
Replete with elaborate graphic outlines of unconsummated projects, the show is like a dirge to the deferred, the delayed and the under-funded. What emerges is a sad portrait of a fragmented imagination that is more comfortable with failure than with hope.
Dining out on a questionable reputation for clairvoyant genius, David is able to pass off these puny meanderings as nascent seedlings of potential revelation. (It should be noted that though much admired in Europe, Schoffman remains a marginal presence in his native Los Angeles).
The credulous Dutch critics were duly cowed.
These past few years have seen a flurry of exhibitions both large and small from my over-productive pal David. While the pundits and academics parse through his every nuance, Schoffman consults with his over-taxed accountant, trying to catch up on his child support payments.
Replete with elaborate graphic outlines of unconsummated projects, the show is like a dirge to the deferred, the delayed and the under-funded. What emerges is a sad portrait of a fragmented imagination that is more comfortable with failure than with hope.
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| Sketch for Immorality, 2009 (courtesy of the artist and Te Veel Swerts Gallery) |
Dining out on a questionable reputation for clairvoyant genius, David is able to pass off these puny meanderings as nascent seedlings of potential revelation. (It should be noted that though much admired in Europe, Schoffman remains a marginal presence in his native Los Angeles).
The credulous Dutch critics were duly cowed.
These past few years have seen a flurry of exhibitions both large and small from my over-productive pal David. While the pundits and academics parse through his every nuance, Schoffman consults with his over-taxed accountant, trying to catch up on his child support payments.
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