Whether you’re in a wood-splintering warehouse in Lubbock or a storefront in Beverly Hills with three security guards, it’s always fun to think about how art would look if you encountered it in an unexpected setting. Nearly four decades after Brian O’Doherty’s essay series Inside the White Cube ran in Artforum, the conversation about a gallery space’s effect on a work of art hasn’t so much died as it has fallen (occasionally) into dormancy. Though the name suggests otherwise, what’s great about Great Art in Ugly Rooms isn’t so much the art itself as the poignancy of seeing something recognizable (and probably very expensive) in a truly startling place. Then again, Recognizable Art in Ugly Rooms might not have the same zip to it. Here are a few keepers.
Richard Prince. Image credit: Great Art in Ugly Rooms
Barnett Newman. Image credit: Great Art in Ugly Rooms
Dan Flavin. Image credit: Great Art in Ugly Rooms
Carl Andre. Image credit: Great Art in Ugly Rooms
Ed Ruscha. Image credit: Great Art in Ugly Rooms
Francis Bacon. Image credit: Great Art in Ugly Rooms
Ellsworth Kelly. Image credit: Great Art in Ugly Rooms
Robert Motherwell. Image credit: Great Art in Ugly Rooms
Henri Matisse. Image credit: Great Art in Ugly Rooms
Jean-Michel Basquiat. Image credit: Great Art in Ugly Rooms