DJ Pfeiffer
I visited the Cristin Tierney Gallery to view the exhibition entitled Under Construction, comprised of pieces from Janet Biggs, Victor Burgin, Peter Campus, Neil Goldurg, and Malia Jensen. At the venue artwork is placed upon plain white walls, likely to allow the photos to pop out to the viewer, like a window into another world. I found it helped to prevent clashing between the colors of the photos and the walls themselves, making the experience feel more tranquil. The work presented focused on how society perceives individuals, in a way that strives to question stereotypes. The press release, for example, states, “Cindy Sherman’s Untitled Film Still #32, 1979, comments on the stereotypical way women were presented in media while Neil Goldberg’s series "The Gay Couples of Whole Foods" engages stereotypes of habits of gay men woven with established corporate cultural values and identity.” The work of each artist shares the similarity in that they focus on life, but it was interesting to see the different aspects of life focused on by different individuals. For example, Cindy Sherman had a piece in which a woman lights a cigarette in black and white, while Neil Goldburg offered a collage of gay couples with groceries, and Janet Biggs sported a more abstract piece of two astronauts atop a dirt hill. Each focused on humanity, but in such diverse ways. The dramatic black and white, the mundane regularity of grocery shopping, and the adventurous nature of an astronaut - all individual aspects of human nature. However, out of all the pieces mentioned above - in addition to those not yet mentioned - I found the most interesting piece to be Martha Rosler’s Vital Statistics of a Citizen. This four by three film taken in 1977 caught my eye at the moment when researchers measure a woman’s breast, as it managed to encapsulate two major descriptive factors of society; the objectification of women based upon biological differences, as well as the general priorities of a society influenced by a strong surge of scientific research in its infancy. While all of the pieces presented offered an interesting story and view into different aspects of societal nature, none seemed to be as seamless as Rosler’s was. It was really interesting to see this exhibition as most of the work I focus on tends to be landscapes and close shots of flora and fauna. Seeing all the different intellectual and artistic ideas that can be explored with photography of people gave me ideas on how to branch out my own interests in a more flexible manner than I had previously believed, and as such I plan to look into the similar work and additional pieces of the artists - specifically Biggs, Sherman, and Rosler.
PDF of Press Release (Link Below);
http://www.cristintierney.com/attachment/en/5374ea09a9aa2cc9708b4568/Press/5b92a1351bc1385f25342b88
