I was very excited walking into the opening of Falon Stutzman's new solo show, The End of a Long Line, at Megan Mulrooney in LA a few weeks back. Megan, knowing I'm a huge fan of works on paper, immediately sent me over to look at the Omaha-based painters new drawings and studies, themselves feeling like an urgent "fever dream" that the show was described as. Then into the painting gallery, and though the work is depicted in scenes that harken back to the 18th century, it felt obviously of the moment.
Because here's the thing: today's power, the big man in charge, is like a comedy of errors. Evil, arrogant and narcissistic, yes, but what we have seen in recent years is that when power lacks decorum, taste, civility and compassion, its becomes glutinous, isolated and chaotic. These are the scenes in Falon's work. Men are choking on their multi-course meals, brothers are fighting surrounded by regal luxury, a daughter tries to escape over the palace's hedge. The show is like a soap opera, tragically comic. You don't feel sorry for them, you want to invest in their failure. So we asked Falon about it…
Evan Pricco: Being that you are in Omaha, how often do you go to the Joslyn? I really like that museum's program.
Falon Stutzman: I love the Joslyn. It was still going through its major renovation when I first got here but once it opened back up, wow, it's fantastic. Free to the public as well! They have a new wing that houses its contemporary art and, that alone, would be worth a visit. They have a Lee Krasner and a Kenneth Noland that play really well within a kind of austere big white open space. Both paintings make me forget where I am for a minute. I visit there once every 6 months-ish but alternate with the Sheldon Museum of Art in Lincoln, Nebraska, just shy of an hour away. That museum is such a gem. They have a Philip Guston and a Jacob Lawrence and some really excellent architecture/sculpture interaction. It's also free!
