Jordan Wolfson: Body Sculpture

• Victoria Perin

In an interview from February 2023 with the National Gallery of Australia’s curator Russell Storer, Jordan Wolfson does a charming little dance. Storer (who has since quit his post as Head Curator of International Art after about 20 months in the role) wants to know, what “do you constantly ask yourself?” The forty-three-year-old New York-born artist riffs, “Is this good enough? Am I good enough? Did I do my best work? Am I avoiding my work or an idea out of fear? Am I still a good artist?” Still draws an important line across that last sentence. A fountain spurting neurosis reveals a confident monument beneath. The idea of a good artist is an archetype. The Good Artist is both confident and insecure. The Good Artist holds himself to account, checks in with himself constantly. Maybe he decides that he is still good, but he always knows that he can slip. This knowledge keeps him sharp: after being good for a while, you can be less good.