Crude Son

Gregory Crewdson at Luhring Augustine
Is that right? Is it garish or an absolute delight? Are we sick of the big work yet? Judging on the 30 grand price tag the galleries certainly are reveling in the return of Yale's grand cinematic delight.
Crewdson's new show at the Luhring Augustine in collaboration with White Cube London, and Gagosian LA is exactly what it is has been built up to be. It is absolutely, spectacularly, boring! Having said that, within the bore there is a little depth that resonates. I am as white toast as the next guy, and I grew up in the suburbs of Seattle. I have to say, the absolute pain that the suburbs can conjure is executed daftly in all of the images in Gregory's show. That alone I would say makes the spectacle worth it. However, I left the exhibition with a confused glazed smile across my face, much like the pained out characters that mime their way through each and every of his hyperrealistic images. Can we have just a tinge of emotion here? or is that just going to detract us from the conceptual suburban angst?

Bottom line, I was telling an arrange of people mostly photographers, artists, and digital retouchers that they have to go see this exhibition. The reason is the production value being simply astonishing. I am quite sure, though I did not speak with Crewdson, that 8 to 12 images are shot and phased together to create one seamless piece. The investment of digital craft and technique alone is worth your time.