 
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
              
|
Installing Pittsburgh: Global artists transform North Side and Downtown spaces With edgy installations from around the world, the Mattress Factory, Wood Street Galleries and two others set the stage for next week's Carnegie International Friday, October 29, 1999 By Mary Thomas, Post-Gazette Art Critic
Korean artist Sora Kim is talking about the anti-gravitational product that she's developing for janitors with such factual detail that it begins to seem possible. And, why not? Like Alice following the watch-carrying White Rabbit, the visitor to the world of installation art leaves the practical, predictable world and drops into a realm of magic and fantasy where anything can happen.
This weekend four edgy art spaces open their doors on exhibitions that coincidentally feature artists who work on the grand scale and a treat is in store for the adventuresome. Many of the artists, whose home bases range from Romania to Thailand, will be at the opening receptions and some will give formal presentations about their work. All events are free to the public.
Granddaddy of these is the much-anticipated "Installations by Asian Artists in Residence: Japan, Korea, P.R. China, Taiwan, Thailand" at the Mattress Factory museum, a resplendent exhibition by 10 emerging artists who put a spin on stereotypes of Asian art. The artists began coming to Pittsburgh in August to work for a couple of weeks at a time on their projects; some will be here for the Sunday opening.
No less fine because of its smaller scale is a one-person show, "Mischa Kuball: Light Traps," which vitalizes the Wood Street Galleries. The articulate Kuball will be on hand to talk informally about his work tonight and will give a formal lecture tomorrow.
WHERE: Mattress Factory museum, 500 Sampsonia Way and 1414 Monterey St., North Side.
WHERE: Wood Street Galleries, 601 Wood St. above the "T" Station, Downtown.
WHERE: Manchester Craftsmen's Guild, 1815 Metropolitan St., North Side.
WHERE: 2100 Mary St., South Side.
Unifying Kuball's work at Wood Street is a precision and attention to detail that make complex presentation appear simple, but the two floors that his work occupies are otherwise as different as night and day.
A rapid-fire wash of light flecks bouncing off of three suspended mirrored balls animate the darkened gallery of "Space-Speech-Speed," making for a disorienting experience that sets the visitor afloat in a room that seems to defy everyday physical law. One can only imagine the effect that a roomful of guests, especially those sporting sequins and glitter, could have in this space. But Kuball is not about gimmickry, and there are layers to probe in this dazzling work, not the least of which involve the structuring of communication and the very cosmologies that guide existence.
Upstairs, the space is cool, almost removed. Where the lower floor grabs viscerally, the upper -- a tripartite presentation whose individual components also stand well alone -- enters through the intellect.
Among these is "Hitler's Cabinet," the oldest work in the exhibition, from 1990, that explores the propagandistic use of film by the Third Reich to manipulate public sentiment. Slide projections of stills from old movies form ethereal extensions to a huge, seemingly leaden cross that sprawls awkwardly on the gallery floor. The resultant swastika shape raises issues of transformation and fabrication.
Kuball, a German who is not Jewish, is careful to point out that there is no glory in this symbol, and includes a declaration that explains the intent of the piece to fend off misinterpretation. He's pleased, he says, with the dialogue that this work, and others of his, have inspired with Jewish groups in Germany since discussion, and not controversy, is his goal.
"I'm not playing with the scandal," he says. "Provocation is not a method I'm working with. It's more about invitation, sharing."
Where Kuball's exhibition is personalized and neat -- as in exacting standards and refined for effect -- the Asian show at Mattress is sprawling -- with a multiple of visions. These artists aren't cut from any standardized mold and their unique and varied works clash with and give emphasis to each other, invigorating the museum's main building and its 1414 Monterey site.
The 10 artists were chosen from almost 100 that museum executive and artistic director Barbara Luderowski, and curator of exhibitions Michael Olijnyk, visited last year during five weeks of Asian travel.
All are fairly young -- their ages range from 28 to 42 -- and each is showing a major work in the United States for the first time. Three are women.
Part of the enjoyment of the exhibition will be in discovering the unexpected, but a little personal background and a peek at what's there should whet the appetite:
Goro Hirata's "Mindspace, 1999," has the look of an ice palace but is made of wax -- 14,900 pounds of it that the artist melted to form into his glowing room. Born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1965, Hirata completed a master's program in painting at Tokyo National University of Fine Art and Music.
Born in Yamanashi, Japan, in 1969, Yoshihiro Suda graduated from Tama Art University. His delicate, unconventionally placed "Weeds" call labeling into question.
Fumio Tachibana collected material for his room-sized "diary" while biking around Pittsburgh last summer. He was born in Hiroshima, Japan, in 1968, and earned a bachelor's degree from Musashino Art University and a master's from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music.
Korean artist Gimhongsok weaves a story from an unexpected source in the sound work "Magic Sword of MMCCXDVII." He was born in Seoul in 1964, and completed a bachelor of fine arts degree at Seoul National University.
Performance and video artist ium was born in Seoul, Korea, in 1971. She earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from Hong-ik University. ium's video, "Tales from the Warehouse," is made of footage shot this summer in the abandoned Armstrong Cork Building in the Strip District.
To develop her "D-Gravitizer," Kim appropriated methods from product development and advertising, cleverly turning them back upon themselves by producing something that's functional only as art. (Cans of the substance will be available for purchase at the opening.) Kim has worked in this particular conceptual series for several years and even has her own cleaning business, Unlimited Concept Company, Cleaning Department. Born in Seoul in 1965, she studied at Seoul National University and earned a diploma from the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts, Paris.
Dexin Gu elevates libertine preoccupation with sexual themes to parody in an at first startling, then humorous environment titled "October 30, 1999." Gu, a self-taught professional artist, was born in Beijing People's Republic of China in 1962.
Youshen Wang, also born in Beijing, in 1964, graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts. His "Dark Room Cleaning" is literally a process piece -- a functional photography darkroom where visitors may develop personal negatives and add their prints to those in the installation.
"Victorian Sweeties" by Mali Wu receives special impact from its inclusion in this exhibition, because one's mind tends to linger on "Asian" artist and not make the jump to the global category of "contemporary." With a slight adjustment to the latter context, the visitor can enjoy this work, which incorporates childhood pictures of people ranging from Adolph Hitler to Oprah Winfrey (look for Luderowski and Olijnyk) to point out that everyone starts out pretty much the same. Born in Taipei, Taiwan, in 1957, Wu earned a bachelor of arts degree in German language and culture from Tamkang University.
Thai artist Sutee Kunavichayanont was born in Bangkok in 1965. His twinned cast latex figures are eerie in lax repose; it's up to the visitor whether to breathe life into them or not. His undergraduate work, in graphic arts, was done at Silpakorn University, Bangkok, and he received a master of visual arts from the University of Sydney, Australia.
Seeing all of these works together is an exhilarating experience, the visual arts equivalent of one of those outdoor workout trails.
And keep in mind two other noteworthy exhibitions opening tonight, at Manchester Craftsmen's Guild and The Brew House Space 101, which also promise to be visually and conceptually engaging.
Internationally exhibited, Romanian-born Arina Ailincai has brought her "Objects and Installations" -- familiar historic forms literally recast to address issues of communication and the assignment of significance -- to Manchester, where she'll lecture tonight.
The collaborative team "gadgetprop" -- made up of Chapel Hill, N.C., artist elin o'Hara slavick, and Jane Marsching of Boston -- and Edinboro artist Stephen Lewis are showing at Space 101. Gadgetprop will speak tomorrow and Lewis on Nov. 20.
This weekend is a segue to next weekend's big event, the opening of the Carnegie International, along with new exhibitions at The Warhol, Silver Eye, close on the heels of the Frick Art Museum and more. It's a season like no other.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Speed of light