Mel Bochner, Language Is Not Transparent, 1970, chalk on paint on wall, 72 by 48 inches. Re-created for the exhibition at the Jewish Museum, New York. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Modern and Contemporary Art Council. Artwork © Mel Bochner. Photo Will Ragozzinno/The Jewish Museum.
Mel Bochner has a penchant for word games. For the past decade or so he has been making paintings that resemble brightly colored thesaurus entries. Lists of synonyms (“Amazing! Awesome! Breathtaking! . . .”) are rendered in block letters against vibrant backgrounds. Though most of the work on view here dates from the last two decades, a through line is established to Bochner’s Conceptual work of the 1960s, in part through the re-creation of a 1970 work for which he scrawled the phrase “Language is Not Transparent” in a field of drippy black paint applied directly to the gallery wall. Bochner’s paintings are cerebral—students of Wittgenstein would have a field day—but the artist seems equally concerned with creating richly textured surfaces and complex color combinations that span nearly the entire visible spectrum. The act of viewing encompasses both reading and looking, as the painterly qualities of Bochner’s work suggest a sensual ground for thought.