#emily lazerwitz

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Marc Handelman at Cooper Union

by Emily Lazerwitz

Last Thursday, I attended one of the lectures at the interdisciplinary seminar at Cooper Union. This lecture series takes place every Thursday at 6pm, and while the class is not open to everyone, the lectures are. The purpose of the series is to bring in contemporary artists, who work in all different medias, to talk about their work and their take on the current art scene.

The lecture I attended, Marc Handelman's Sustainability Report: Some Thoughts on an Outmoded Genre, was given by a landscape painter who does more than just paint pretty scenes. He has brought together the idea of the Sublime with modern political thought to develop a new take on nature painting. His first series of paintings are taken from a series of defense ads. He explored their use of the sublime landscape to promote destruction and weaponry. He pointed out that many of these ads do not even use military iconography, just beautiful skyscapes. It only becomes evident upon reflection that these images’ perspective is that of a missile.  

From this series he moved on to exploring Fox News ads and monumental painting. With this group he looked at the power text and the icon in presenting a political message. He distorted this message through various techniques, like enlargement, cropping, and even partially erasure.

For me, Marc’s most interesting work may be his next project: matte paintings. This lost technique originated in the film industry as the precursor to the green screen. The artist would project a photograph on glass and then paint the projected image on the glass. The end result is very beautiful and pristine. What Marc does to update the process is then save the new painting, erase what is on the glass, and project the painted image onto the glass. The paint does not come off the glass completely so the layering produces a mystical effect.

I would highly recommend these lectures to anyone with time and an interest in art. It’s not hard to get to Cooper Union and the opportunity to listen and talk to these artists should not be missed.   Every Thursday at 6pm Rose Auditorium 41 Cooper Square

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Andy Warhol: Motion Pictures at MoMA

by Emily Lazerwitz

    The two-room gallery on the sixth floor of Museum of Modern Art now houses a new Andy Warhol exhibit. Upon entering the gallery space, one is surrounded by massive flat screen televisions, which display a different black and white silent film. Known collectively as “Screen Tests,” these twelve films are made in the style of a typical screen test. Each film consists of a headshot of a different celebrity from the 1960s, who either merely blinks or does a mundane action such as brushing teeth. Some of the familiar faces are stars that Andy Warhol brought into the spotlight like Edie Sedgwick, while others are famous on their own accord like Allen Ginsberg and Dennis Hopper. The sheer size and multitude of the films, 7 by 9 feet, creates an incredible impact on the viewer. These larger than life celebrities who silently stare out surround the viewer. Warhol’s obsession with celebrity comes through due to the film stars’ imposing presence.

    In the second room, a large theater space plays one of Warhol’s silent films “Kiss.” This film is also a black and white, which stars two people doing the relatively obvious activity of kissing. Upon walking into the theater, a young tween boy beside me came running in clearly excited to see what he thought was a risqué movie. For the rest of us, it may not be quite as exciting but still beautifully artistic. I think this exhibit, though small, is definitely worth the trip downtown to see. Again, MoMA is free with a CUID! For more information visit MoMA’s website, which incidentally includes some cool multimedia, including a page encouraging viewers to create their own screen tests as a "modern update on Warhol's practice."  

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Found in Translation: A Look at Contemporary Media Art

by Emily Lazerwitz

“Found in Translation” is the newest exhibition being shown at the Guggenheim’s annex spaces. The show revolves around two central ideas: the portrayal of translation in a globalized world and the youth and innovation that is currently associated with the media arts. Each of the 11 international artists tries to bring awareness to the power of art, especially in the political sphere. Each artist approaches the idea in very different ways; some used film stills and landscapes and others took recordings and manipulated them to draw a new perspective. One artist, Sharif Waked from Palestine, created a particularly haunting and politically charged piece. His piece in the show consists of himself in the all too familiar role of the suicide bomber making his final speech. Yet, when he begins to talk, he does not talk about death, destruction, and hate but instead reads aloud “One Thousand and One Nights.” The discrepancy between the visual and audio content brings attention to our political biases as well as leaves the viewer completely shocked. This is just one example of the dynamic and controversial pieces.

I really think everyone should try to see this show. It is really well done and brings together a lot of upcoming artists in one space. Remember, the Guggenheim is free with a CUID! For more information visit the Guggenheim website.