The Dog Days Are Here

Jane Dickson's West (1999) doesn't carry nearly the weight its curators think it does

Details

“Jane Dickson” on display through July 15, and “Coming out of the Dark” on display through July 16

Museum of Art, 1 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale

Related Content

• Holiday Cookie Decorating Contests at Prosecco Cafe and Saquella Cafe: Open to Kids of All Ages
  December 15, 2012
• #ArtTogetherNow
  December 13, 2012
• Tri-County Bartender Throwdown at Buddha Sky Bar Tonight
  March 5, 2013
• Roaring Balls
  November 8, 2012
• Active Military & Veterans Get Discounts on Las Olas Restaurants For National Military Appreciation Month
  May 1, 2013

More About

• Jane Dickson
• Michael Klein
• Ginger Gregg Duggan
• Roberto Matta
• Visual Arts

As in much of this underappreciated artist's work, a sort of deranged melding of eroticism and science fiction dominates. Its four main figures, vaguely humanoid but distorted beyond recognition and yet highly sexually charged, are positioned on and within a mass of something else that heightens the uneasy air of sexual menace.

It's an apt reminder that the prolific Matta, who's nearly 90 years old and still active, has not only outlasted the other prominent surrealists -- who eventually turned on him -- but has remained astonishingly faithful to the niche of surrealism he carved out for himself. But the picture's power also highlights the shortcomings of "Coming out of the Dark." The Museum of Art has many outstanding works in its permanent collection; unfortunately not many of them are included here.