| 12/09/2006 |
| Artspace's provocative 'History' goes beyond any textbook |
| Judy Birke |
|
-NEW HAVEN — Once upon a time
schoolchildren were taught that Christopher Columbus discovered
America and Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves. History was a simple
story, seen only from one perspective and taken as solemn truth.
Fast forward to today. In fact, the truth is not so simple.
Textbooks are being rewritten (or not) as we speak, based on new
considerations and perspectives, and simple stories have become far
more complicated.
"Don't Know Much About History," the exhibit running through Jan. 20, 2007, at Artspace's untitled (space) gallery, offers such an opportunity to revisit history. Denise Markonish, the show's curator, notes, "We are, as a culture so blind to history. We learn about it in school and then forget about it. "Why," asks Markonish, "despite the fact that history is such an integral part of our beings, are we so blind to the past? This show is, in a way, an occasion to relearn it. I really wanted to get people thinking." And get them thinking she does. This is an intriguing exhibition of varied moods and associations. An effective blend of form and content, it convincingly demonstrates the radical changes in the way history can be viewed and understood. Nothing is simple here. It takes time and attention to decipher what one observes, but the rewards are well worth the effort. Provocative narratives range from social and political issues to racism and sexism, the 16 participants offering all sorts of information not found in history books. Cutting across all styles, media and technique, the inclusions, sometimes disturbing, sometimes downright shocking, leap way beyond the narrow boundaries of what is often defined as political art, proving for a change, that political statements do not inevitably make for bad art. These works, while not always giving pleasure, clearly succeed in asking relevant questions, each artist striving to communicate in a world whose meaning is often elusive, and, while each inclusion is not necessarily expressionistic in style, each is certainly expressive in content. "I don't normally do political shows," explains Markonish. "This is the most political show we've done. It started with a few artists. One thing led to another, and more and more I became aware of what appeared to be a trend of artists looking at history, using it and twisting it to talk about the present." According to Markonish, the exhibition takes a four-step trajectory, ranging from those artists who explore the genre of historic painting, to those interested in how history relates to art, to those who look at historic events to reflect the present, and finally to those who use history to comment upon its place in contemporary society. Each artist has thoughtfully formulated a compelling personal meditation on what it means to be an artist at this moment in history that is reflected in their work. Many find evocative new ways to re-address various pictorial traditions, contemporizing context to address modern issues. In Titus Kaphar's "New Revolution," based upon John Trumbull's 1786 depiction of the Battle of Bunker Hill (which can be seen at the Yale University Art Gallery) Kaphar recontextualizes and reconfigures the original image and narrative. By taking the only African-American figure, seen originally in a subservient position, and moving him from the background to the foreground, and by cutting and reconfiguring the entire painting as a contemporary diptych, Kaphar revises history by redefining racial roles and relationships within America's hierarchy, reversing the marginalization of African-Americans in both history and the painting. Charles Browning focuses on various other eras in art history. In "Black Face," a portrait of a Victorian society lady, painted after Ingres, Browning paints her in blackface, emphasizing the notion that no matter how absurd the imagery, the inherent bias has always been toward accepting the imposed historical narrative as truth. In Joe Zane's "Restitutions," a group of images of five of the 13 paintings that were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston in 1990, including a Manet, a Vermeer and a Rembrandt, that have never been found, the artist substitutes mechanical reproductions made in China, pointing to the increased production and exportation of Chinese goods, while simultaneously questioning the "aura" of the original as compared to the reproductions. In some of the works, political context receives great strength from its aesthetic elements. In Jonathan Santos' "Dealy Plaza, TX 1963," a bold, aggressive painting of 10 squares, Santos takes the event of John F. Kennedy's assassination and turns it into an abstracted study of historic place. By reducing map images that diagrammatically retrace the motorcade in red, white and blue, Santos gives the piece a contemporary aesthetic, as he slowly zeros in on the mark that points to the exact spot of the tragedy. Many of the inclusions possess a subtlety in the manner in which the artist weaves the intricate ideas that hover beneath the tangled surface of American history, connecting past to present in an ironic manner that generates a maximum of significance from a minimum of means. These works, like Colleen Coleman's "Re-Writing AmericKKKa's History II (Dearest Prudence)," and Johnny Carrera's "Monetary Collages," nevertheless, spark ideas like tinderboxes, Coleman's evocative interactive inatallation commenting on how history gets passed down, Carrera's powerful collages addressing what he sees as the real motivation of governmental policies, revealing money as the ultimate power. Some artists, like Justin Richel and Andrea Robbins and Max Bechar, for example, make their points via the ironic absurd, Richel exposing George Washington, the "father of our country," actually attempting to inseminate its symbols, and Robbins and Becher pointing to the schism between actual history and its re-appropriation, via a group of quirky photo-portraits of Aryan-looking "German Indians" in Native American attire, at the annual commemoration of a 19th-century German writer who wrote "Cowboy and Indian" stories. The exhibit also includes fine works by Deborah Bright, Mary Dwyer, James Esber, Michael Krueger, Lalla A. Essaydi, Allison Smith and Phil Whitman. In its entirety, this ambitious presentation transforms the gallery space into a true museum-like venue, the depth of theme, the quality of content, the range of information and the solidity of installation, succeeding in evoking a real energy and dialogue that is hard to resist. The public is invited to join curator Denise Markonish on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. as she discusses how she came to choose the topic and artists for this exhibition. One hopes that it will be seen not only by visitors who welcome the extensive exploration of history, but also by those who would genuinely be upset by it. Judy Birke of New Haven is a freelance writer and art consultant. jump cutlines: Artspace Johnny Carrera's Sadam Hussein-adorned dollar bill is called "The United States of America." |
