How to rate Pablo-Matic? Badly, if you are New York Times critic Jason Farago. Ohoh. Meanwhile this piece in hyperallergic argues the show is not great but not terrible. Ok so so-so. Then there is this other piece in hyperallergic that urges you to go because they think the show is good. Hmmm….

I’ve read lots on the show, including how the museum feels (they dismiss the negative reviews). My two takeaways from all that I read are:

• everyone, no matter how they feel about the show, have valid thoughts and opinions on it. They all come to different conclusions, but the ideas they bring up are worth reading. If you love the show, read the pieces by those who didn’t, and vice versa.
• the Brooklyn museum can’t lose here. Regardless of what you think, I haven’t read so much about a show in quite some time. Most shows get an objective thumbs up with very little passion. Not this show: people are passionate about how they feel about it. It’s exciting!

I wish more shows were controversial like this. Not controversial in a gimmicky way, but in a thoughtful way. It got me thinking about art and artists in a deeper way than I might have if I went to a non-controversial show.

Finally, I also admire the courage of the curators. It’s like night vs day when I think of other controversial shows like the recent Philip Guston exhibit. We need more courage from people in the world of visual arts. I am glad the folks at the Brooklyn Museum have that.