Doug Argue Retrospective at Weisman Art Museum

Article by Becky Fillinger, photos provided

Doug ArgueMinnesota native son Doug Argue has been producing art since the 1980s. Weisman Art Museum (WAM) has put together a retrospective of his work, DOUG ARGUE: LETTERS TO THE FUTURE, on display until September 10. He lives in New York City now, but came back to Minneapolis to launch this fascinating exhibit. We caught up with Argue and curator Elizabeth Armstrong to learn more about the body of work displayed.

Armstrong explained, “He was always doing his own thing, right from the start. I curated his first museum show at the Walker Art Center in 1985. Everyone else was consumed with abstract or conceptual art – not Doug. He was different from his contemporaries.”

You’ll see a roughly chronological depiction of Argue’s works – including wildly imaginative nature and biological/fantasy paintings, paintings of fathers and sons (reminiscent of his childhood on Battle Lake, MN) and enormous canvases of thousands of "tiny, interlocking shapes and lines that suggest the dynamism and fluidity of nature." Forty-one works are in the retrospective covering 4 distinct time periods in the artist’s life.

Argue with curator Elizabeth Armstrong

I asked Argue what he would like to impart to visitors to the exhibit. “I’d want the viewers to experience the arc of my different works and how it changed over time – you’ll see the mental leaps between things.”

Armstrong calls out the uniqueness and precision of Argue’s work. “Take a look at One Fish Follows Another.  Each fish is different in scale and scope – Doug’s work is the exact opposite of what Artificial Intelligence can do.”

Fish School 2021

Argue’s “untitled” chicken factory painting

Argue told me that the famous Chicken painting took three years to paint and to notice that the expression on each chicken’s face is different. What was the inspiration? Argue told me that he read Franz Kafka’s work, Investigations of a Dog, where the story is told from the dog’s point of view. The dog’s thoughts in the story about how he could get food inspired Argue to close his eyes and to consider the questions of how and where did he get food. The Chicken painting was launched!

As always, admission to WAM, 333 E River Road, is free of charge. This is a must see exhibit – jot it into your summer to-do list. There is a companion book, Doug Argue: Letters to the Future (Skira, 2020), edited by Claude Peck, containing more than 150 full-color plates of work spanning four decades of Argue’s career. Copies are available for purchase here.