The Wake

The title of Peter Rosen’s new documentary poses the question that has perplexed both the art-snob elite and the everyday people since man first laid eyes upon an art gallery wall, shrugged his shoulders, and said, “I don’t get it.” Who Gets to Call It Art? recounts the modern art revolution that took place in the United States at the dawn of the 1960s and its rapid rise from misunderstood fringe movement to lucrative commercial commodity. With testimonies from the times’ illustrious and notorious artists and an arsenal of the era’s prolific and perplexing pieces to appease the eye, Who Gets to Call It Art? transports viewers to the New York scene where the modern art movement began in hopes of answering its titular query. Mere moments into the film the question seems to be answered as renowned Metropolitan Museum of Art curator Henry Geldzahler emerges as the film’s central focus, and the one who gets to call it art.

The strength of the film lies primarily in its form and style over content. Don’t get me wrong, Rosen’s documentary is bursting at the seams with visual content. The camera pans slowly, Ken Burns-style, across still images of the faces and places that comprised the New York art scene. Rosen covers all his bases, treating our eyes to everything from the abstract expressionism of Jackson Pollock to the sardonic pop stylings of Andy Warhol. Live footage of art galas and showings bring to life the stories of contributing artists Ellsworth Kelly and David Hockney, among others. Where the film loses sight is with regard to its subject, Henry Geldzahler.

While we are told by every artists interviewed, ad nauseam, how profoundly important Geldzahler was to the post-war art movement, we never get to know him beyond the idiosyncrasies and social adeptness that made him a legendary museum curator and friend to the artists. Geldzahler’s conservative upbringing and strained relationship with his father are touched upon briefly by friends who knew very little of his past, but ultimately we only meet the public Geldzahler. Because he spent much of his adult life surrounded by the beat generation artists he championed, it is through their testimonials and art works that we must understand Geldzahler by understanding what he loved. That he would so willingly pose and serve as subject for the workings of his artist friends (many sculptures, films, sketches and paintings from the era feature him), reveals a very Warhol-like thirst for notoriety that is another aspect of the curator which is unfortunately eclipsed by the film’s emphasis on the art scene itself.

While the intimacies and inner workings of Geldzahler are never fully realized, Rosen does manage to exploit his relationship with the iconic Andy Warhol for a large segment of the film. With the breadth of works already dedicated to Warhol, it’s a shame that Rosen doesn’t more fully explore the enigmatic subject of Geldzahler, and instead punches another fifteen minutes onto Warhol’s clock of fame.

Who Gets to Call It Art? may have its shortcomings with regard to Henry Geldzahler, but it is a captivating visual portrait of a time and place, “the golden age of everything” as one testimony recalls. With pop, abstract expressionist and minimalist works used to illustrate the tale of modern art’s rise, the film is a must for any fan of 20th century art and the tumultuous decade that allowed it to thrive.