All the Cool People
All the cool people are at the de Kooning show
at the Modern, wearing black or red flip-flops,
      their arms folded in front of them, walking
between de Kooning masterpieces of controlled
anger—his black slashes and red backgrounds,
his disembodied eyes, arms, legs, and occult
        penises, his frightful women
and stormy landscapes; they are getting it,
you are sure. They’re trying hard to leave
their distances, their fragile belief in
      themselves and artful insecurities,
and the isolation expensive art uptown
encourages—they are trying.
Some will make the bitter leap from a posture
of intended strength and make themselves
as vulnerable as de Kooning could not; he
      was lost, he was sad, he could not find
a story to tell of his own, but he could make
pictures, and he did that.
Perry Brass
Sept. 28, 2011
Museum of Modern Art
