Have a Drink

Comments (0) By Michael Leaverton Wednesday, Oct 28 2009

Last year, artist Tucker Nichols had free rein to create art all over the de Young Museum. Nichols is known for odd little shapes, clever scraps of text, and quirky little kid drawings that make the lesser of us have the dialog: “That’s art? I can do that. But why is it art when he does it? Oh, I need a drink.” During his six months at the museum, he could do anything, so he grabbed a roll of tape, went into the parking garage, and taped up a pipe. Then he taped up a chair. He put some tape on a donation box. He put some more on the ground. He put a long piece on the tower, and a smaller one on a tree trunk. He taped up two coffee machines in the cafe. He put the sign “OK for sitting” on a chair. He did more stuff like that, and took a lot of pictures and wrote on them. Then, satisfied, he left. You got a problem with art? At his solo show, “Tucker Nichols: New Work,” he presents drawings — one looks like a three-year-old’s idea of a trophy — along with new text pieces and his first stab at wallpaper. Take some time with it all: Nichols has a bachelor's from Brown and a master's from Yale, both in Chinese art. He’s not like us at all.