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Indepth Arts News:
"Distant Shores: Jason Glasser, Karolyn Hatton, Janine Lariviere, Bruno Peinado, Stefan Sehler, Joshua Stern, Fabien Verschaere"
2003-05-30 until 2003-06-22
Parker's Box
Williamsburg, NY,
USA United States of America
Perhaps one of the best things art can do is to transport us
elsewhere, especially when things begin to heat up in the city,
and everyone is over resenting the harshness of winter, and the
shortness of spring. The works chosen for ìDistant Shoresî are all made by artists
with an interest in images that suggest characters and places
that exist elsewhere, even if the reality that might often be that the
inspiration or genesis for these images lies in interpretations of
our western experience and/or its history.
Ambiguity is a great tool here, especially when the origins and
identity of characters or settings are hidden or veiled. In the work
of Berlin-based artist, Stefan Sehler, his mountain paintings at
first sight suggest a realistic representation of alpine landscape,
until we notice the repeated contours, and subtle stylization,
which gently push us more towards other thoughts of 'true
alpine freshness' as being that of mountains represented on
dairy packaging or spring water bottles. In a similar way, French
artist, Bruno Peinado tirelessly absorbs the imagery that
surrounds us, and that ultimately expresses our era. Peinado
makes 'pictures' by diverting them from playing another role in
packaging, or as logos, graphic devices, advertising sound
bites, etc., all areas where the exotic elsewhere is prized as a
marketing tool. References to history and tradition, however
vague they may often be, also form a significant part of the flood
of images that assail us, normally for the purposes of selling us
something. Of course, it would be wrong to necessarily link
many artists' work to this language - but we have all become
conversant with it, and conditioned to reading images through its
filter. Jason Glasser's low-contrast, reverse-painted hunting
scenes depict an ìother world' clearly within the tradition of
painting, narration and neuroticism. However, any length of time
spent with these uncanny creatures that at once draw us close
into Jason's world, while at the same time asserting their
dumbness as two dimensional representations on car glass,
tends to slow down the sound of traffic outside and even keel a
gentle hub of pleasant, but absurd, interaction. Not so pleasant
or absurd, the psychological discord of juxtaposition in Karolyn
Hatton's work. She takes the issue head on in 'Bravo' (2001) an
arrangement of flowers made from a recycled fatigues jacket that
conjures up ideas of domesticity as well as foreign policy. Her
directness with divergence continues in a series of photos that
belie their simplicity in taking on near and far, three of which are
shown here in Distant Shores. Up close, but strangely
impersonal, the artist gives us a glimpse into a narrative that she
then refuses to indulge in whimsy or farce.
Whimsy and farce may be exactly what photographer Joshua
Stern is going for in black and white images that signify
somewhat of a departure from the artistís 2001 Parkerís Box
solo show 'GOB (Catarrh Among the Living).' These big
photographs feature a recurring set of characters that, while
faceless, can be considered no less human than Sternís last
cast of carefully crafted individuals. Now more situation driven,
these new pieces are large in size as well as their possibility for
interpretation. Stern flaunts his playersí independence leaving
us unsure of his own role: mad art historian or moral
documentarian of his own mind? 'Distant Shores' becomes
desire, introversion and more of going away within, than going
away without. Some of us will be here, after all, throughout the
hot summer in New York, so Janine Lariviere is offering tours
that navigate a timeline of flowers in an ongoing work called
ì20th Century Narcissus. Made up of approximately 100 small
photos from gardening catalogs, the images of daffodils (also
known as narcissus) are organized according to their divisions
and registration dates. The record this piece offers of the past is
purposely from the vantage point of the present and the
crossings of horticulture commerce and fashion are as much an
expression of human tastes and culture as of that vague thing
we call nature. The temperature drops as the astronaut rises in
the delicate, but not-so-precious watercolors of Fabien
Verschaere. Erotic, neurotic, incoherent and sophisticatedly
embryonic, Verschaere does for painting what the Cyclone does
for Coney Island: itís scary every time, no matter how often you've
ridden it. More free than a bird, more stairway than heaven, more
smoke than water, 'Distant Shores' offers bargain rates daily.
IMAGE:
Bruno Peinado
Installation, 2002
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