Dave Muller

Quick Picks (twenty-six)

2004

Making works on paper in acrylic and watercolor, Dave Muller documents not only art-world events but also everyday objects that are both extraordinary and mundane. Quick Picks (twenty-six) comprises six large-scale works showing the spines of a group of long-playing records as they might appear arranged on a shelf. Enlarged to nearly six times their actual size, the 26 albums pictured in the work, one for each letter of the alphabet, are just a handful of the thousands in Muller’s collection. In an era when songs are individually digitized, downloaded, and continually reshuffled, this painting suggests a narrative not only about Muller and his musical interests, but also about the albums themselves and their integrity as intentionally grouped sets of songs.

Dave Muller (b. 1964, San Francisco; lives and works in Los Angeles)
Quick Picks (twenty-six), 2004
Six parts: 84 x 36 in. each
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Purchased with funds provided by the Buddy Taub Foundation, Jill and Dennis Roach, Directors