Monday, December 1, 2008

ICA Fall Exhibition

by Andrea McGinty

Though the R. Crumb exhibition is the ICA's heavy hitter this fall, I focused on the works of the three other artists featured in the exhibition, all thought provoking and well worth considering. But of course, when you go see the show, check out the comprehensive retrospective of R. Crumb's underground comics.

Stepping into the first gallery we are greeted by a massive open space whose perimeter is lined with photo-collage and framed photographs. The first floor houses the work of artist Douglas Blau. The wall text available before entering threw out phrases to make my art historical mouth water: "narratives unfold across sequences", "mechanical reproduction", and "power of association". Luckily for the viewer, the work delivers with dense collages of prints, photographs, film stills, and postcards, that depend on each other, and the viewer, to create meaning. The images mostly focus on a wealthy, upper-class lifestyle, and their work and leisure activities. Blau utilizes art history, design, architecture, historical and modern culture; combining objects and spaces with human emotions. His titles add a layer of depth to the works, twisting the meaning even further through association. In this installation, the title was posted to the right of the work, so as to continue the thought process after one takes in the images, both separately and as a whole. "Playtime", 2008, features images of children with dolls, women reading and writing, theaters, and men standing in the stairwells of their mansions. Image juxtaposition and meaning through association are far from new concepts, leading Blau's work to feel rather traditional, though his overall composition and the wit exhibited in his work are convincing enough to allow the work to standout.

The Third Space Ramp Project is home to Odili Donald Odita's site specific wall paintings. The murals cover the walls of the ramp space, extending from the ground to the ceiling, forcing the viewer's eyes to move through the entire space. His bold blocks of geometric, solid colors bring to mind "Western modernism and African culture", (as stated in the gallery notes), and are chocked full of color theory, and references to op art and digital culture alike. His influences are at once abundantly obvious and subtly integrated. Both Odita's work, and the work of artist Kate Gilmore, located adjacent to Odita in the Project space, share the theme of well integrated influences. The two exhibitions placed next to each other allow for dynamic conversation. Gilmore's videos and installations do more than hint to the endurance art of the 1970's, and generations of feminist work. In her video "Between a Hard Place", 2008, she is shown breaking through layered drywall, wearing heels and a dress. In Odita's work he fuses his traditional, contemporary, visual, and cultural influences, both glorifying and criticizing them. Gilmore takes her aggressively physical, conceptual influences and uses them to create formally considered videos, employing color, scale, space, and composition.

All of the work featured in the ICA's fall exhibition forces viewers to look, think, and make connections on their own, which should ultimately be the goal of the contemporary artists of our time. All of the works share in common the use of traditional references mixed with modern thoughts and practices, that and a bit of a new twist on old ideas. "Conversation" could almost be coined as the unofficial theme of the exhibit, and a perfect activity to partake in with your lovers and friends while visiting the ICA before December 7th.

[Andrea McGinty is a South Florida expatriate and artist living and working in Philadelphia]