Most people like to travel, said Margaret Hawkins in the Chicago Sun-Times. But why? This 'œwitty, ambitious, and high-spirited' exhibition presents more than 80 contemporary artworks that probe the appeal of the temporary disruption offered by trips. Roman Ondak's Common Trip, for example, 'œsuggests that one of the main satisfactions of travel is the afterglow of memory and storytelling.' His installation consists of the drawings and paintings his friends made based on his recollections of his travels. Alexander Timtschenko has photographed Las Vegas re-creations of famous tourist spots, such as Venice. His images display the patent artificiality of many tourist destinations.
Despite the fact that travel is supposed to be all 'œsun and fun, discomfort and dislocation' are major themes, said Laura Bly in USA Today. Curator Francesco Bonami has assembled a group of works emphasizing that travelers have, for the most part, become tourists and that 'œuncharted regions are few and far between.' That makes this theme show 'œsubservient to the concept of its organizer,' said Alan G. Artner in the Chicago Tribune. The concept is so 'œfuzzy' that nearly any artwork seems to fit in. It's not clear what Felix Gonzalez-Torres' Untitled (Portrait of Ross in L.A.) has to do with tourism, even though the collection of wrapped candies, weighing as much as his dying friend Ross, is an 'œexcellent' work of art.
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