reviews

  • View of “Ruffneck Constructivists,” 2014. From left: Tim Portlock, Sunrise—the extended constructivists re-render, 2013; Kendell Geers, Stripped Bare, 2009; Rodney McMillian, Carpet (Office and Ollie’s Room), 2012; William Pope.L, Claim, 2002/2014.

    View of “Ruffneck Constructivists,” 2014. From left: Tim Portlock, Sunrise—the extended constructivists re-render, 2013; Kendell Geers, Stripped Bare, 2009; Rodney McMillian, Carpet (Office and Ollie’s Room), 2012; William Pope.L, Claim, 2002/2014.

    “Ruffneck Constructivists”

    Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania

    The wall of reeking bologna at the entrance sets the tone for guest curator Kara Walker’s exhibition “Ruffneck Constructivists,” on view through August 17: Simply confrontational at first glance, the show hugely rewards a long, thoughtful look. In her text for the exhibition Walker describes its eleven artists as “defiant shapers of environments . . . [who] build themselves into the world one assault at a time.” The title’s clashing references to “Ruffneck”—female rapper MC Lyte’s 1993 ode to the streetwise “dude with attitude”—and the revolutionary Russian avant-garde likewise suggest

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