The Road Rev2

7/28/2019 The Road Rev2

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O N E O F T H E C O N T E M P O R A R Y - A R T

I N D U S T R Y S M O S T N O T E D V O I C E S , A R T

C U R A T O R A N D C R I T I C J E N S H O F F M A N N

D I S C O V E R S T H E B E A U T Y O F T H E

C A L I F O R N I A C O A S T I N A L E X U S L S

T E X T B Y J O N A T H A N D U R B I N

P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y C L M E N T J O L I N

T H E R O A D

S T A T E O FT H E A R TThis is the furthest in America we can go, says JensHoffmann over coffee at San Franciscos Tadich Grill,

looking out to the city beyond. Theres always this sense

of maybe just falling off into the ocean. California is the

edge of the avant-garde.

Parked in the street outside is a platinum Lexus LS

600h L, Hoffmanns trusty steed in the 80-mile journey

up the winding California coast he is about to set off

on. Its a handsome car with its raked spindle grille,

it looks sporty, knowing and a little wry and reathe journey ahead.

This is one of Hoffmanns favorite drives: a

but challenging ride across the Golden Gate Bridg

into the countryside, where the hazards of wil

crumbling embankments and low visibility are al

of the charm. Having crossed the bridge, hell he

Stinson Beach, onto the forests in Samuel P. Taylor

Park and then farther up to Point Reyes, Tomale


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and finally Bodega, a quintessentially California small

town the setting for what he calls Alfred Hitchcocks

sunshine noir, The Birds.

Just 20 minutes outside San Francisco, you would

never know you were anywhere near a metropolis. Herethere are cliffs bleached by fog, islands poking out of

midmorning mist and highways running through lush

vegetation and redwood trees. The LS provides an elegant

vantage, surveying the Pacific Coast Highway with a

confident silence that absorbs every shock from the road.

The drive north is one Hoffmann has embarked on

many times, but this time it holds special potency. For

the curator, todays ride will be a farewell to California.

For the last six years, 38-year-old Hoffmann has been

the director of San Franciscos influential CCA Wattis

Institute for Contemporary Arts, and this is one of his

last weekends in the city before embarking on a new

position at The Jewish Museum in New York.A rigorous thinker who announces himself with a

crisp European accent and globe-trotting rsum, the

curator or exhibition maker, to use his term is

something of an overachiever. Since 1998 he has helmed

more than 30 international art exhibitions, including

the first Berlin Biennial, as well as hugely important

biennials in Shanghai, Istanbul and Lyon. He has worked

everywhere from the Guggenheim Museum in New York

to Londons Institute of Contemporary Arts, and has

published widely. Hoffmann has long been interested in

the possibilities and appeal of the open road. Two of his

recent shows, one of which was part of an annual series

drawing from works in the 101 Collection at the Wattis

and On the Road at Artpace in San Antonio, Texas,

were based on drives through the US countryside.

The engine of the LS is fired up outside Tadich Grill.

Established in 1849 during the states gold rush, the res-

taurant claims to be Californias oldest. Hoffmann fuels

up downtown before driving over the Golden Gate Bridge

and heading north. The LS is a pleasure to drive along

the cliffs and coasts of California a smooth, curve-hug-

ging ride, with amenities including climate-controlled

seating, analog clock with a GPS function and bamboo

detailing across the dashboard and t he steering wheel.

Its a sophisticated way to observe the shifts in landscape,

where even the mundane elements of suburbia malls,

gas stations, fast-food joints are made dramatic by thesudden backdrop of mountains and coastline.

I always do these road trips when I need space in my

head, he says. I dont even take a map with me. I just

sit in the car and drive around and look for things. One

comes across the most surprising things when one is just

drifting around the landscape.

For this farewell tour, getting lost was not an option.

The Lexus hybrid comes equipped with a convenient

One of Hoffmanns ongoing pCollection at the CCA Wattistemporary Arts in San Francisgroups together works madlive along the West Coast, this taking today, as well as a lThe 101 of its title refers to that runs through the statOregon and Washington. Weworks from artists that work hones, midcareer and emergingI would say theres about It ranges from blue-chip McCracken or Ed Ruscha to vcomers who maybe had one in San Francisco or LA. The really wide.

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I T S S O S O F T ,

S O Q U I E T , T H E R E

A R E N O N O I S E S .

I F E E L L I K E I M I N

F I R S T C L A S S O N

L U F T H A N S A

Hoffmann mounted this road-focused exhibition,titled after the Jack Kerouac novel, at Artpacein San Antonio, Texas, in 2010. The show wasdivided in two parts. The first was devoted to artistswhose works and practice addressed exploringthe American West by car, including both historicfigures like Walker Evans and more contemporarystars like John Baldessari. The second was anexhibition of materials Hoffmann had gathered

himself on a two-week trip across Texas andNew Mexico. Among them were rodeo photos,a ring in the shape of Texas and the receipt froma restaurant where Hoffmann had ordered the72-ounce steak special the curator had anhour to ingest the meat to get the meal for free.He lost. I didnt finish, he says. I had three bites,and I was already passing out.

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L S 6 0 0 h L

L E N G T H

H E I G H T

W I D T H

W H E E L B A S E

S E A T I N G C A P A C I T Y

D R I V E N W H E E L S

E N G I N E T Y P E

C Y L I N D E R S

T O T A L S Y S T E M

O U P U T W / M O T O R

E N G I N E M A X

O U T P U T W / M O T O R

E N G I N E M A X

T O R Q U E

T R A N S M I S S I O N

S U S P E N S I O N

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12.3-inch navigation display. That may not be conducive

to aimlessness, but few other vehicles could deal so well

with Hoffmanns wanderlust. Its so soft, so quiet, there

are no noises, Hoffmann declares at the wheel. I feel

like Im in first class on Lufthansa.

The car might be soothing, but the road isnt. The trip

north is a drive that demands cast-iron nerves and a steel

stomach. The switchbacks are sudden, severe and guard-

rail-free. The LS handles the turns smoothly, without

decelerating, the sight lines of its intelligent headlights

pinned to the road. The view is more than worth the

trouble. The redwoods in Samuel P. Taylor State Park give

way to the cold gray marshes outside Point Reyes and

then, farther up, breathtaking views near Tomales Bay,

where the LS moves calmly through misty escarpments.

The car is navigated by its running lights forged likethe Lexus logos L, rotated 90 degrees and strong fog

lights. At one of the highways turnouts, the Lexus pulls

over while Brian Enos An Ending (Ascent) plays on the

radio. Hoffmann looks out across to the ocean, almost

blanked out by fog. Its a noir moment fitting, given

hes headed up the coast to pay tribute to Hitchcock.

Hoffmann is a fan of Hitchcocks work, feeling a

kinship with film directors in general in his role as

a curator. Its this idea of the author, someone who is

in charge of every detail of the creative production, he

explains. The gallerys a stage, and the audience can

come onstage and participate.

Its little surprise that Hoffmanns discourse borrows

theatrical terms, because he once attended the Ernst

Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin, where he

enrolled to become a director. Hoffmann was born in

Costa Rica and sent to boarding school in Germany.

It was interesting to live in Berlin at that point the

wall was coming down and you had a

war history still existing in East Berlin

like being within both worlds. The the

experience to work on Documenta X in

tant survey of modern and contempor

turn, opened doors in the art world.

an interest in the visual arts. I also felt

visual arts was more sophisticated than

By the time Hoffmann arrives in Bo

sun is out and its easily 10 degrees

was out on the coast. The town doesn

changed much since Hitchcock sho

towns businesses still offer a quaint

life a bar, a surf shop and the Bode

which has the largest collection ofThe B

anywhere. Even those who only have a pwith the film will remember St. Teresa

whose stark white presence looms ove

film. In real life, its much the same. Th

such a way that it becomes blinding to

About a half hour from the city, th

along the scenic Panoramic Highw

cloudy valleys, and into San Francisco.

switches the engine off to admire th

that his move to New York for the new

easy. When asked what hell miss mos

Coast, Hoffmann doesnt equivocate. Ev

San Franciscos laid-back attitude, the

pressures and the relative tranquillity o

ers an answer thats apropos for some

hinges on reimagining ways to best vi

In this, as in other aspects of his life,

expressing himself with razor-sharp p

The light, he says.

T H E G A L L E R Y S

A S T A G E , A N D

T H E A U D I E N C E

C A N C O M E

O N S T A G E A N DP A R T I C I P A T E

5,2 1 0mm ( 2 05.0in )

1 ,4 80mm ( 58.3in )

1 ,875mm ( 73.8in )

3,090mm ( 1 2 1 .7in )

5/4

A ll-Wh e e l D r iv e

2 UR-F S E

V8

4 38h p

389h p

385lb-ft

E-C VT

F r on t : Mu lt i l in k Re ar : Mu lt i l in k

The Road Rev2

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Transcript of The Road Rev2