25 August 2025
Ken Price, Primal, Physical, Sensual at Matthew Marks Gallery, one of the best shows I've seen in a while (despite that title). First time seeing his work in person. The sanded-down mottling on the ceramic sculptures is a technical wonder for sure, but it's the clarity of thought, bold simplicity of his formal juxtapositions, and constant undertone of his sense of humor that makes it such a pleasing sampler. Especially edifying in its directness after seeing Olivia van Kuiken's show yesterday, which is equally effective but eschews directness at every possible turn. Price's forms naturally evade concretization, but they don't hide from it (as is the case with Love affair, 2008, ink on paper). And horniness is somehow endearing in his hands. But Specimens on Pillow Bases (1965, graphite, acrylic, and colored pencil on paper) left the strongest impression on me. Something like a drawn study, the word “pillow” appearing three times as a brand on different views of indented platforms holding the specimens—plans for them to be made plush. A hierarchy, a mountain to climb, a multitudinous proposition.