Asher, Acconci and Warhol

Michael Asher's work is an institutional critique on the structure of art gallery and art museum. He literally removes the wall in the gallery space, which once seperated the exhibition space  and the offices where the staff worked. This elimination of one of the white walls from the space also takes away a metaphorical divide in the gallery and to exposes the inside, secret, happenings of the gallery. The offices, the staff on the telephone, artworks bought and stored are suddenly presented to the audience, integrated with the exhibition floor. This work is site specific, as each location has different walls, different staff, different ways of dealing with business, and a different audience, all which would contribute to a different work. 

This kind of work is controversial as Asher is using the gallery to call attention to his artwork. He is using the gallery to expose it as a vessel which contributes to the commodity culture, though here he is using it himself to bring attention to his work as an artist. This work is not sellable, though like many other artists, such as Christo and Vito Acconci, Asher could sell the photo documentation or the transcripts and legal documentation as a sellable piece, and Asher's profile as an artist would benefit from having the show in this gallery. Andy Warhol was aware that he was critiquing the commodity culture with his pop art silk screens of house hold items, but he also did not deny that he too, was sucked in by the seduction of consumerism.