Robert Gober: The Heart is Not A Metaphor @ MoMA

"The Heart is Not a Metaphor," the exhibit of Gober's work spanning 40 years is anything but subtle.   Gober is identified with his sculptures of of men's hairy leg's & white sinks.  This this show has a compelling narrative & makes you think.  Every item is constructed by his hand; incredible . The show contains a clarion commentary on sexuality and the sanctity of the church.  Gober throws out everything including kitchen sinks (some with running water) & discarded newspapers.  Sculptures of male legs protude from walls & other objects.  This monumental & groundbreaking (literally) collection of Gober's works (Amer. b.'54)  consists of sculptures, drawings, slides, & prints.  There are running water installations & decimated concrete floors with holes with works that had me agog.  Kudo's to the MoMA for its audacity to take extreme measures for maximum impact.  The craftsmanship & ingeniuty of Gober to construct every item which appears manufactured is astounding.  Some may ask why - everyone should be amazed & question how.  This maverick show of an ingenious artist's works are explosive & disturbing.  Many of the works are perturbing,  psychological conundrums.  Clearly, the sinks made in the 80's address the sanitizing, isolating & stigmatizing of AIDS patients.  Note the 2 sinks embedded in the grass glimpsed through a window appearing as tomb stones.  The gallery also contains cribs that are skewered.  Do these represent an abusive, rejected childhood or address the laws preventing  gays to adopt children or marry as the empty bridal gown suggests.  There are printed wall paper prints juxtaposing a white man slumbering serenly alongside a black man's lynching.   shows an image of a white man peacefully sleeping next to a lynching of a black man.   Kitty litter bags strewn demonstrate a tolerance of living with cat excrement within the home at the same time there is intolerance for variant human sexuality.  Sexual explicit prints & drawings of human genitalia are ubiquitous.  The large cigar made of tobacco winks at the Clinton/Lewinsky relation.  On a solemn note, the 9/11 tribute pays respect but mixed with some irreverence.  Still,  I felt a sense of healing.  "The Heart Is not a Metaphor" but the heart does register agitation & pulsation.  This exhibit will literally get your heart racing.