Islamic art by any other name

Without Boundary: Seventeen Ways of Looking, at the Museum of Modern Art, has a weak curatorial premise but some of the most stunning work I've seen recently. It purports to examine the term "Islamic art" and its applicability, but only succeeds in reinforcing stereotypes (more calligraphy, more keffiyehs, and more veils). "The show doesn't reveal anything substantive about Islamic culture. Rather, it presents the distinctive vision of highly Westernized émigrés," to quote a comprehensive review by Lee Siegel on Slate.

I can hardly add to the points made by Siegel. But what can I say? Mona Hatoum (who is actually Christian), Shirin Neshat (above), Shahzia Sikander, and Bill Viola (one of two Americans in the show) - these are some of my favorite artists, and they are represented here by some real gems. Emily Jacir was a new name to me, but it turns out she was in the original Made in Palestine exhibition (see my earlier post). Oddly fascinating was her two-part video Ramallah/New York, which shows images of daily life in each location side by side - a real-time illustration of how immigrants recreate their former lives in new settings. And guess who else makes an appearance - the Lebanese artist (and charlatan archivist) Walid Raad (see my February 28 post).

The show succeeds because of the quality of the work. But the accompanying text is confusing and contradictory - more curatorial gymnastics than guiding principle. According to MoMA, "The exhibition seeks to emphasize diversity by questioning the use of artists’ origins as the sole determining factor in the consideration of their art." But it doesn't question origin this way. And an ongoing conceit about the art defying expectations loses meaning when you try to pinpoint exactly what those expectations would be.

All artists draw on their heritage to some extent, but only a small number share a heritage that is in the headlines. I'd like to see what MoMA would do with an exhibition of artists from Ohio - talk about an "unexamined rubric"!