Ladyfinger and Fig Mcflurry
“Fig McFlurry,” besides sounding like a nineteenth century pulp fiction detective, was the subject of a 2017 satirical Clickhole article about a fictional dessert temporarily offered at McDonalds. Fast food with a haughty bent, shrouded by a layer of satire—it’s a fitting title for “Ladyfinger and Fig Mcflurry,” at 56 Henry, the summer group show of artists grouped by attributes, some straightforward, some subversive.
Grouped around “Glamour,” or perhaps “Decadence,” are Karen Kilimnik’s aristocratic works on paper in gilt frames, and Jessica Craig-Martin’s diamond-studded Coming and Going (2017). What could only really be categorized as “Evil Trolls” are Adam McEwan’s saucy text message paintings. And then there’s the ultra-meta category,“Post-Postmodernism,” which the curators define partly: “Reality is media. Reality is simulation. Life is art.” Kevin Zucker’s No Hotel (2014), which describes an image in typewritten letters on hotel stationery instead of showing it, may fall into the latter—as might the exhibition writ large.
Jessica Craig-Martin, Bye Hater, 2017. C-Print on Dibond, 11 x 14 inches.