Sacramento Bee Article
Recalling the future
'Art Tomorrow' exhibit has echoes of past
February 27, 2005
Section: TICKET
Page: TK15 By Victoria Dalkey
Bee Art Correspondent
ART
--For an exhibition based on a book titled
"Art Tomorrow," the Western Biennale of Art in Davis
has a surprisingly old-fashioned look. Like the San Francisco
Museum of Modern Art's mid-1980s biennale, "Second Sight,"
a number of works in the show are strongly influenced by art of
the past.
From Italian Carlo Maria Mariani's "neo-neo-classical"
painting of "Memory," the mother of the muses, sprouting
the heads of her daughters, to Russian Genia Chef's charming conflation
of the Christian Eve and the Greek Venus de Milo, the exhibition
looks backward as much as it looks forward. This is not necessarily
bad, though it gives the show a slightly musty air at times.
Filling all three floors of the John Natsoulas Gallery, the exhibition
brings together international, national and regional artists in
a survey of mostly recent works by major American figures such
as Judy Chicago, Philip Pearlstein and Sean Scully; international
artists from Australia, Bosnia, Greece, Italy, Iran, Russia and
the United Kingdom; and Californians such as Julia Couzens, Chris
Daubert and Jerald Silva.
Assembled by widely published art historian, critic and poet Edward
Lucie-Smith with input from John Natsoulas, the show includes
experimental and traditional media and examples of several trends
that have emerged over the past 30 years addressing feminist,
political and environmental concerns. A sub-theme of the show
is sexuality in art, a subject of special interest to Lucie-Smith.
With works moving from Lynn Hershman's deconstructions of feminine
identity to Maslen and Mehra's experimental photos of leafy human
forms submerged in woodsy landscapes, this wide-ranging exhibition
exemplifies the laissez-faire conclusion to Lucie-Smith's introductory
essay in the exhibition's catalog.
There are, he writes, "now no boundaries to contemporary
art ... (which has become) ... whatever artists from many cultures
choose to make it." While a statement like that could lead
to visual anarchy, what lends the show a semblance of coherence
is its focus on the human figure. Approaches range from Gerald
Heffernon's edgy mutant "humanimal" to Pearlstein's
coldly analytical realist painting of a nude with a toy locomotive
and Mersad Berber's old-masterish drawings and prints of a dead
gypsy and Christ in Bosnia.
At the center of the show and dominating the first-floor gallery
is Chicago's enormous spray painting from her 1985 series "Powerplay,"
which explores the destructive aspects of the male psyche. In
"Driving the World to Destruction," she depicts a maddened
man who looks like a mutant villain in a superhero comic book
steering the Earth on an apocalyptic path as it bursts into flames.
The scale of the piece makes you feel like you are looking at
a drive-in movie screen; it dwarfs everything around it.
Even Delmas Howe's raucously gaudy "bad" painting of
male nudes, one shackled with garlands of roses, pales in comparison,
and the impact of Ashfan Ketabchi's theatrical digital photos
of women in harems, which explore feminine sexuality in Islamic
culture, is diminished. Nevertheless, Pearlstein's incisive figure
painting more than holds its own, as does Chef's cheeky "Evaphrodite."
Smaller works are installed on the more-intimate second floor
spaces. Among them are David Ligare's classical still life and
portrait paintings, unfortunately hung in the stairwell, and George
Grant's interesting three-dimensional study of a Mannerist painting
by Jacopo Pontormo. Also of note are Michal Chelbin's unsettling
photo of a dwarf and a baby, which has the dark and disturbing
quality of images by Ralph Eugene Meatyard and Diane Arbus, and
Viktor Koen's digital vanitas images, which resemble rayograms.
It's easy to overlook Scully's small abstract watercolors, hung
on the landing by the elevator, which seem out of the loop, anyway,
in a show primarily devoted to large-scale figurative works.
On the third floor, the show expands to include a number of artists
familiar to local viewers, as well as Italian Paola Gandolfi's
startling, surreal image of motherhood and British artist Marc
Wayland's image of a male nude floating on a drape of sheer, patterned
fabric. Ranging from John Roloff's evocative "Robe I,"
a large glass diptych with a recessive photographic image of a
figure in a ceremonial robe and orange slices in a slurry of swirling
colors, to Silva's "Window Angel," a showy watercolor
of a nude making wing-like marks on a steamy window, this section
of the show contains a number of strong pieces.
Daubert's "Wrestlers," enamel on steel images drawn
from a video of a symbolic wrestling match between figures representing
passion and reason, are haunting works that make one think of
the shadows cast on the wall in Plato's cave. In the process of
becoming less and less visible as rust eats into the steel, they
are emblems of futility and loss.
Annie Murphy Robinson's magnificent, unflinchingly honest drawing
of an older female nude extends to a monumental scale the kind
of intense observation that characterizes Pearlstein's work. Couzens'
radical reinventions of the body command attention despite their
intimate size. "Nest," a plastic eyeball in a nest of
hair surrounded by a breast-like form, is such a quirky and original
image that it manages to hold its own in the company of much-larger
works.
It's wonderful to see how well works by these Northern California
artists hold up to those of artists from other parts of the country
and artists from overseas. It's great, too, to have a chance to
see works by artists of the stature of Chicago, Pearlstein and
leading artists from other parts of the world here in the Valley.
On March 5, the Natsoulas Gallery will host an afternoon seminar
with lectures and discussions by Lucie-Smith, Chicago, Daubert,
Ketabchi and others, followed by a reception, book signing and
musical performance in the evening. Seating for the free event
is limited and can be reserved by calling the gallery in advance.
Sacramento News and Reviews Newspaper (link
to this article)
Art Pick of the Week
Venice, New York City, Davis
By Saunthy Nicolson
There’s Venice’s Biennale, Switzerland’s Art
Basel and New York’s Whitney Biennial. Now, in our own backyard,
the Western Biennale of Art has emerged at the John Natsoulas
Center for the Arts, located at 521 First Street in Davis. Curated
by widely published art critic Edward Lucie-Smith, the show runs
until March 27 and offers a taste of contemporary movements that
have evolved internationally and regionally. Focusing on the art
of the future, the exhibit features work by renowned artists including
Kate Eric, Judy Chicago, Afshan Ketabchi, Philip Pearlstein, John
Roloff, Ken Little and Jerald Silva. Cutting-edge works by locals
like Julia Couzens, Chris Daubert and Gerald Heffernon are featured
also. An exciting component of this event is the opportunity to
talk with Lucie-Smith and some of the artists (including Chicago)
at a one-day “manifestation” on March 5. Reservations
for this event are imperative. For more information, call (530)
756-3938.
California Aggie Newspaper (link
to this article)
'Art Tomorrow' exhibition worth
a visit today
Natsoulas show features cutting edge of modern art around the
world
By ELIZABETH MARXEN / Aggie Arts Writer
Posted 03/10/2005
Brendan Pattengale/Aggie
Art enthusiasts visit the Natsoulas Gallery on Saturday
evening for the Western Biennale of Art: Art Tomorrow. Here guests
at the Natsoulas Gallery enjoy a peice by Judy Chicago.
Children dart into a hidden stairwell while their parents speak
with a photographer. A Jamaican artist dances to the music of
a local band. RVs parked on the curb house a traveling art show.
The first Western Biennale of Art Tomorrow, currently on exhibition
at the John Natsoulas Center for the Arts, brings together artists
from around the world, connecting a global art community. At the
gallery, artists and art aficionados alike admire the show's diversity.
Decorating the large, white walls of the gallery are pieces
from all over the world. Pieces by local artists are featured
along with those of artists from England, Jamaica and Iran, among
other locations. A seminar was held in the gallery to allow art
fans to interact with some featured artists. Edward Lucie-Smith,
the curator of the show, further added to the international feeling,
stating in the conference that one goal of the show was to bring
European and West Coast artists together.
"I was looking for artists whose art was important
in their own country," Lucie-Smith said.
Judy Chicago, a noted feminist artist, said the difficulty
of creating a global art world is the idea that art has to be
targeted to a Western audience.
"Artists have to leave their place of origin or struggle
in their own community to express what they make," Chicago
said.
Besides a combination of nationalities present in the exhibition,
there is also a variety of media used by the artists in the show.
An interesting set of photochemical paintings by Jamaican artist
Jiivanii Redmarks greet the visitor on the second floor. Made
with photosensitive paper, chemicals and a curiosity for chemistry,
Redmarks' paintings are like photographs without the picture.
They depend on light for the images to develop, and each picture
is one-of-a-kind.
Maslen & Mehra combine digital imagery with sculpture
and nature. Their manipulation of the environment and its interplay
with humans creates a stunning visual.
Tim Maslen, one half of the duo, said in the conference,
"We make art because we experience the world and we try to
reinterpret it."
The photographic medium was represented by a few artists,
notably through the work of Iranian artist Afshan Ketabchi. Her
piece called "Harem" depicts a clash between Eastern
traditions and Western influence.
Lynn Hershman's "Seduction," a print of a woman
with a television as her head, is eye-catching and provocative.
At the reception, video technology was employed by performance
artist Oleg Kulik. His work, "System of Coordinates,"
featured nude performers rehearsing for an upcoming show.
Kulik is not the only artist at the gallery to study the
human form in his or her work. Almost all of the pieces feature
some comment on the body or its relation to the world around it.
An example of this is Paola Gandolfi's "Macchina Madre"
-- Machine Mother -- which depicts a bloated mother with two sets
of feet, a woman whose purpose in life is to produce children.
But while the body is featured in many of the works, the
real triumph of the show is the combination of old art styles
and new technology. Genia Chef's "EVAphrodite" encompasses
this combination -- a statue of Aphrodite blending into a photographed
representation of Eve offering an apple. It's as if she's saying,
"This is one exhibition you have to try."
The Western Biennale of Art Tomorrow at the Natsoulas Center
for the Arts in downtown Davis will run until Mar. 27. Visit natsoulas.com
for more information.
ELIZABETH MARXEN can be reached at arts@californiaaggie.com.
Extras Articles link:
The
Museum of European Art
The Void
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by Artnews
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