6th Floor Lobby
7th Floor Lobby
Houghton Gallery
2nd Floor Lobby
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Exhibitions in the School of Art, April 28 - May 2, 2009
Opening Tuesday, April 28, 6 - 8pm:
On view April 28 - May 2, 2009
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Dan Catucci, Ryan Andrews & Kalen Mendenhall : Uranus
Houghton Gallery
Dana Miller : And Everything In-Between
2nd Floor Lobby
Michael Bostock & Feliz Solomon : Go Deep
6th Floor Lobby
Andrew Francis & Rina Goldfield : Each Other
7th Floor Lobby
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Exhibition hours:
Tuesday through Saturday, 11am - 6pm.
Cooper Union Foundation Building
7 East 7th Street, New York, NY 10003
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Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Re: “Bodies and Pleasures,” Lucy Kirkman on the 7th Floo r Lobby
Lucy Kirkman's small paintings of nudes—warm, delicate, and sensual—
capture a sense of simple comfort. Henry finds this simplicity lacking,
and looks for the pain that inevitably attends pleasure. I think,
however, this simplicity represents an act of bravery. These pieces
epitomize a lot that is uncool at art school: they are figurative
paintings; they are small, precious objects; they celebrate comfort over
criticality. Given their context, these paintings become fierce, speaking
up for joy and loveliness in a place where few others will.
capture a sense of simple comfort. Henry finds this simplicity lacking,
and looks for the pain that inevitably attends pleasure. I think,
however, this simplicity represents an act of bravery. These pieces
epitomize a lot that is uncool at art school: they are figurative
paintings; they are small, precious objects; they celebrate comfort over
criticality. Given their context, these paintings become fierce, speaking
up for joy and loveliness in a place where few others will.
Rather than directly critique our misogynist culture, Lucy offers an
alternative. She rejects the self-laceration so common in "feminist"
self-portraiture. She instead revels in the beauty of the female body and
reveals her own self-confidence. This confidence is rare among women. The
fact that Lucy's paintings lack the pain we associate with self-image thus
becomes the source of their poignancy. An image woman at peace with her
own body is a rare gem, worthy as a message of hope.
Rina
“Bodies and Pleasures,” Lucy Kirkman on the 7th Floor Lobby
The 7th floor exhibition, consisting mostly of paintings, but also housing several small sculptures and a painting/projection, is in praise of, or in pursuit of, pleasure. The title says this plainly, but without it the work would still hover around an interest in the delightful. I’m wondering what kind of pleasure this is. Lucy’s dozen golden eggs sculpture gives the hint that this is a pleasure in the everyday. And for me, the most effective pieces in the show—five small paintings showing the artist’s nude or mostly nude body from the perspective of the artist either in the bathtub or in bed, with housecat or not—dwell in this space of commonplace luxury.
These small paintings are worth taking a look at: Lucy has composed images where the viewer’s perspective is that of the artist’s, seeing her own body lying down. This is an effective strategy, if not an overt connection to a tradition of comments on viewing the female nude. If Manet's Olympia acknowledges your gaze, and returns it, in these paintings we are asked to hold the same gaze—in effect, to empathize with it. This is a subtle but powerful move.
In Lucy’s painting/projection, a painted imitation of the figure from the Andrew Wyeth painting, “Christina’s World”, is overlaid by a projection of slides showing different works from art history. So, Christina’s worlds change. This is perhaps a related gesture as the paintings, but more overt at the expense of something (the empathy?) that makes the paintings intriguing. Christina flies through a world of different paintings, but this is a trip I didn’t want to take with her.
I am not so sure if the work depends entirely on a revised feminist agenda. Probably it doesn’t, although it’s certainly there. The major problem for me is not in the strategy, or how effective it is or isn’t, but in Lucy’s take on pleasure. Except for the painting/projection, which may speak to this, the work seems to consciously leave out the provocations of pain and longing, instead portraying pleasure as something still and unchallenged. In reality, pleasure is alive, moved and affected by loss. The exclusion of that loss does a disservice to an understanding of pleasure, and to the work.
These small paintings are worth taking a look at: Lucy has composed images where the viewer’s perspective is that of the artist’s, seeing her own body lying down. This is an effective strategy, if not an overt connection to a tradition of comments on viewing the female nude. If Manet's Olympia acknowledges your gaze, and returns it, in these paintings we are asked to hold the same gaze—in effect, to empathize with it. This is a subtle but powerful move.
In Lucy’s painting/projection, a painted imitation of the figure from the Andrew Wyeth painting, “Christina’s World”, is overlaid by a projection of slides showing different works from art history. So, Christina’s worlds change. This is perhaps a related gesture as the paintings, but more overt at the expense of something (the empathy?) that makes the paintings intriguing. Christina flies through a world of different paintings, but this is a trip I didn’t want to take with her.
I am not so sure if the work depends entirely on a revised feminist agenda. Probably it doesn’t, although it’s certainly there. The major problem for me is not in the strategy, or how effective it is or isn’t, but in Lucy’s take on pleasure. Except for the painting/projection, which may speak to this, the work seems to consciously leave out the provocations of pain and longing, instead portraying pleasure as something still and unchallenged. In reality, pleasure is alive, moved and affected by loss. The exclusion of that loss does a disservice to an understanding of pleasure, and to the work.
Henry
Urgent Meeting in the Great Hall Tonight 10 PM
Public Service Announcement:
Student Council is hosting a meeting tonight at 10 PM in the Great
Hall on STUDIOS and other important issues.
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