The Art Of Jonathan Lethem In Print And On View At The Benton Museum

Forbes

20-03-2025

Benton Art Museum Academic Curator Solomon Salim Moore and co-curator and Art Afficionado novelist Jonathan Lethem
Jonathan Lethem is the author of many novels, most notably Motherless Brooklyn, The Fortress of Solitude, my favorite Chronic City, and his most recent novel, my second favorite Brooklyn Crime Novel. Less known is that he is an art afficionado and art collector, a pursuit brought to life by the recent publication of Cellophane Bricks: A life in Visual Culture (Ze Books), and the exhibition Jonathan Lethem's Parallel Play: Contemporary Art and Art Writing' (On view through June 29, 2025 at the Benton Museum of Art in Pomona, CA) featuring 60 works from his personal collection, 18 of which have been gifted to the museum.
Lethem's father, Richard Brown Lethem, is an artist, his brother is a graffiti and street artist, and his sister a photographer. Lethem originally imagined he would be a visual artist as well, but found he was more interested in writing than painting. Nonetheless, Lethem has many friends who are artists, and he has written about art on many occasions, as well as bartered with artists trading writing for work. It is this lifelong dialogue with artists that informs both the book and the exhibition.
For the last decade, Lethem has taught at Pomona College in California, If you have never been to Pomona, a little over an hour east of LA (and I had never been), it is an incredibly charming college town that is certainly worth a visit and a day trip. The Benton Museum of Art is, like many college art museums, an unexpected treasure and a pleasure, a beautiful building with fascinating exhibits, not the least of which is Parallel Play, which may be one of the most original and vibrant exhibitions I've seen recently.
Gregory Crewdson, Untitled, 2004. Digital chromogenic print, 57 x 88 in. (144.78 cm x 223.52 cm). Private collection, Claremont
Co-curated by Solomon Salim Moore, the Benton's academic curator, the exhibition features works by Gregory Crewdson, Rosalyn Drexler, Nan Goldin, Charles Long, Robert Longo, Richard Prince, Peter Saul, and Larry Sultan as well as works that Lethem collaborated with Raymond Pettibon, Jonn Herschend, and Will Rogan.
We are thrilled to present these two exhibitions that explore the intersection of contemporary art and literature,' said Victoria Sancho Lobis, Sarah Rempel and Herbert S. Rempel '23 Director of the museum. 'On a more personal note, it is also deeply meaningful to celebrate the robust support and partnership that Professor Jonathan Lethem has offered to the Benton. He and his family were the first through our doors when our new building opened to the public under severe pandemic restrictions. He has contributed to museum publications and attended many of our events. Professor Lethem's generosity even extends beyond his enthusiastic participation in our programs; it also includes gifts of art to our collection. And by introducing us to Jonn Herschend and Will Rogan, he has widened our circle of creative collaborators. We are grateful for his many and various gifts to us.'
Next to each exhibited work is a label containing an appreciation by Lethem and, at times, a quote from Lethem's work that seems to speak to the work. The Benton Museum press release calls the exhibition a 'call and response' between the works and Lethem's writings.
What's truly distinctive about Lethem's collection is that, perhaps not surprisingly, a lot of the artwork he collects is text-based, and much of it grows out of street and fanzine culture, and a decidedly punk aesthetic. Many of the works seem to suggest a story.
Martin and Muñoz (Walter Martin and Paloma Muñoz), Traveler CLXIII at Night, 2003. Chromogenic print, 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.64 cm). Promised gift of Jonathan Lethem
The exhibition features Dissertation by Richard Brown Lethem, Lethem's father, an early work that made me think of Francis Picabia. Gregory Crewdson's meticulous staged photo of a strip mall supermarket which is a short story in itself. Similarly, Walter Martin and Paloma Munoz's Traveler CLXIII at Night, seems like a child's snow globe depiction of a winter's night, but it is filled with possible play or potential danger giving the work its particular charge.
I can't say that curation and collecting are unappreciated (they are enshrined in donor created museums or monetized in blockbuster auctions) but it is rare that we see such a singular point of view expressed in a collection which mixes better and lesser known artists in a way that resonates with the work of the collector, in this case Jonathan Lethem.
The exhibition text includes this quote from Lethem that I found particularly on point for this exhibition: 'It's a pretty strange artwork to take for granted, but I have to remember to find it strange.'