Gallery Crawl

Antony Gormley Breathing Room II at Sean Kelly Gallery

By: Sarah Kershaw

 

 

Antony Gormley’s Breathing Room II exhibition opened at Sean Kelly on an inauspiciously rainy Thursday night.  The artist was in attendance as hundreds of bodies filed in to see his bodies: disguised, abstracted but generally familiar. Gormley is a household name in England, due to headline-grabbing commissions such as: Angel of the North; One and Other, his recent project involving the British public on the fourth plinth of Nelson’s Column and Event Horizon, originally in London and now in New York, featuring cast-iron bodies dotted around Madison Park in the Flatiron district. Some of his work is celebrated (the compelling Sound II in Winchester Cathedral, Another Place) some is written off as populist, but in England at least Gormley cannot be ignored.

 

 

 

 

 
"Antony Gormley: Breathing Room II, " Installation view (Cast), Sean Kelly Gallery. Photo by: Jason Wyche. Copyright antony Gormley.

 

 

Breathing Room II is Gormley’s fourth exhibition with Sean Kelly, comprising five works. Four are increasingly abstracted sculptures based on the body. Cast features small steel rectangles, arranged to suggest a life-sized body. The steel has oxidized giving the work a timeless air, it is neither old nor new, only current. The work recalls Fritz Lang’s Metropolis robots, reclaimed in steel. However, whilst Lang’s robots indicate that all is not right in the world, Gormley’s simplified rendering is a more optimistic display of our universal qualities. The other three works are less successful; works such as Proposal, a series of hollow black-painted steel rectangles echo the work of the Grandfather of minimalism, Sol Lewitt, but leave the viewer nonplussed, as the inspiration behind the work is not clear. Gormley is famously preoccupied with the body and the architectural possibilities therein, but in this instance no trace of the body remains, the message is lost and thus the end result is that the work looks like what it is and nothing more.

 

 

 

 
"Antony Gormley: Breathing Room II," Installation view (Proposal, left), Sean Kelly Gallery. Photo by: Jason Wyche. Copyright antony Gormley.

 

 

The final work - the eponymous Breathing Room II, is undoubtedly the draw. To see it, the viewer must walk into a darkened corridor with tight-angled corners that block out the light; after a cautious approach the corridor opens out into what feels like a large, dark room, completely pitch-dark apart from long, glow-in-the-dark forms that become more apparent as your eyes adjust to the light. Gradually, whilst neatly dodging other strangers engaged in the same task, five overlapping rectangles become clear. It looks like an exploded diagram; three-dimensional people are in an exploded two-dimensional diagram. Unlike the sculptures in the other room that demonstrate the body in architectural language, our bodies are now within architecture. Whilst wrapping my head around the installation and gaping at the fun of the project (glow-in-the dark!), the lights come on. It’s embarrassing.  Strangers start back from each other, having accidentally orbited closer than usual. Fifteen long minutes of light follow, to recharge the glowing lines of our rectangles before we are again plunged into the comforting darkness to witness the lines emerging slowly, evolving into their brilliant state.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
"Antony Gormley: Breathing Room II," Installation views, Sean Kelly Gallery. Photo by: Jason Wyche. Copyright antony Gormley.

 

 

 

Breathing Room II, adeptly timed to coincide with the Event Horizon fun at Madison Park will be popular and populated. Gormley’s genius lies in his pitching. His work betrays tremendous thought and preparation on his given themes of the body and its architectural possibilities, however it never feels contrived or too remote from our human experiences. (There I said it!) Some critics bemoan his simplicity but they are missing the point. Flawed but engaging and never pretentious, Gormley’s twin exhibitions accurately convey his interests and leave the viewer wanting more.

 

“Breathing Room II” runs through May 1^st

 

Sean Kelly Gallery

528 West 29^th Street

Take the C or the E train to 23^rd Street  and/or the M23 bus to 23^rd Street and 11^th Avenue

Gallery Hours: Tues-Sat, 10-6pm

Gallery Website: www.skny.com

Artist website: www.antonygormley.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NYU Steinhardt 2010 MFA Thesis Exhibition

By: James C. Kao

 

I visited the NYU Steinhardt 2010 MFA Thesis Exhibition, and my immediate impression was that there were a lot fewer artists than other degree exhibitions I have visited. Going through London’s Goldsmiths, Central Saint Martins, and Slade degree show openings was similar to going to an art fair: a space jam-packed with artists, art, and people. NYU’s MFA program accepts fewer artists, and the final exhibition was split into two parts. I went to the reception of the first part, which featured Allan Bailey, Jennie Hagevik Bringaker, Alex Jovanovich, Jiyoon Koo, Jason Martin, and Allison Somers. Overall I enjoyed the show; because there weren’t many artists, I felt less pressured to hurry through the works.

 

I caught a glimpse of Bringaker dragging a cart into her installation and performance space, which unfortunately was too crowded to enter. As such I did not have a complete opinion of it, though the premise of a time capsule performance sounded intriguing. Gallery 1 housed Koo’s various paintings. I enjoyed Koo’s bold yet purposeful strokes. There was a lack of smooth blending, which is what I usually prefer, but the layers of thick and colorful paint excited me, despite the fact that some of Koo’s paintings were of desolate areas.

 

Bringaker’s video stood out in Gallery 2 as those not drinking or talking were watching it. Indeed it had the most captivating imagery of the room. The video featured a wiggling body wearing tan colored clothing, and small dark hair-like materials appeared in the crotch area and her back. Each progressive shot showed the hair expanding and covering more parts of her body. In the next gallery, Jovanovich’s Friends series on pedestals were some of my favorite in the exhibition. The pedestals were black and in a slightly different shape than usual – the top surface was not just flat but had indents at the corners to a slightly lowered surface, and I appreciated this extra thought from the artist. The concentric circular lines in the drawings reminded me of the raked sands in a Zen garden.

 

 

 
Alex Jovanovich, Friends, 2009-2010, ink and graphite drawings on MDF pedestals, dimensions variable. Detail. Photo by JCK

 

 

Bailey’s video was housed in an anthropomorphic block. The installation was endearing as were the puppets in the video, but I stopped watching the video after a few seconds. Later I felt that perhaps I was unfair and hasty in my judgment and so returned, but still it failed to warrant my continued interest in watching the video unfold. It featured puppets in a bathroom scene, looking towards what was possibly a mirror but was actually the audience. I felt that I missed something, and I was not sure if I, or the work, caused this lack of chemistry. Martin’s Wolves/Dogs installation filled an entire room. At first I felt that the work was trying to create an experiential space through light, projections, and videos. I often find these installations to be gimmicky or too intent on eliciting sensory reactions, but I felt compelled to stay. The longer I spent in the installation the more elements I discovered, such as a sliver of a mirror and the colors and shapes formed on the wall. All these gave depth and more dimension to the room. The videos of people dressed as canines were at once humorous and slightly disquieting because even though the subjects were humans, the make-up and costumes were detailed and effective enough that the people were becoming something else.

 

 

 

 
Jason Martin, Wolves/Dogs, 2010, multi-channel video installation, dimensions variable. Photo by JCK

 

 

Since it was a small exhibition, I felt that I had breathing room and time to look at each work closer. Many of the other schools I visited functioned more like factories, churning out artists as products. Having been in London for the past two years, I was excited to see what new graduates were creating in New York. When I visited Columbia’s MFA studios several years ago, I felt that the works were mostly polished, pristine, and commercial. In contrast, in NYU 2010 MFA each work had the care and intelligence of multiple layers. I would be interested to see part two. Comparing New York to London, I could not say however if the works are any more or less interesting, or even that different.

 

NYU MFA Thesis Exhibition 2010

Part 1

April 6-19

Part 2 (featuring Sonja Engelhardt, Daniela Libertad, Joe Namy, Amelia Saul, Heather Sherman, Elaine Cameron-Weir, Gustabo Velazquez)

May 4-17

80 Washington Square East

New York, NY 10003

Take the 6 to Astor Place; the R or W to 8th Street; or the A, B, C, D, E, F, V to West 4th Street

Gallery Hours:Mon-Sat, 10-6

Gallery website: http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/steinhardt/mfa2010/artists/

Ursula von Rydingsvard: "Erratus" at Galerie Lelong

By: Simmy Swinder

 

 

 
Ursula von Rydingsvard, Droga, 2009, cedar, graphite, 54 x 115 x 219 inches (137.2 x 292.1 x 556.3 cm). GL 7895. © Ursula von Rydingsvard. Courtesy Galerie Lelong, New York.

 

 "Errātus," Latin for ‘wandering’ or ‘straying’ is the title of the current exhibition of five works by Ursula von Rydingsvard at Galerie Lelong. The sculptures are dispersed evenly throughout the entire the gallery on walls and as freestanding sculptures, compelling the visitor to wander through the space and confront the objects as individual pieces. The works are of varying dimensions and shapes, having only its media (cedar and graphite) and the mark of the artist’s hand in common. They are on the cusp of being free flowing, organic forms if it were not for von Rydingsvard’s deliberation and control.

In Blackened Word, von Rydingsvard begins with a Polish word written by an elderly woman closely acquainted with the artist (von Rydingsvard did not name the woman and said the meaning of the word was unimportant, focusing instead on the movement of the letters). She then enlarges the word (81 x 248 x 78 inches) and builds upwards, splicing layers of cedar to give three-dimensional form to the word. The result is an undulating architectural object one can walk around and step into the small crevices, which form the curvatures of the letters. This interaction with the sculpture is also possible with Droga, a large, billowing waveform that forms a tunnel one can peer into. Unraveling is described as a “wall drawing.” In the upper left hand corner there is a dense grouping of concave circular forms that progressively unravel into branchlike forms across the pictorial plain.

Ursula von Rydingsvard’s towering sculptures are emotionally charged, vivacious and voluptuous. This is probably because her sculptures do not begin with designs or models. Instead, von Ryndingsvard first envisions a vague form then improvises the building process, relying on her instinct to create her work. She first imports cedar from British Columbia to a mill. The wood is then custom cut into 2 x 4 pieces. She then determines the future location of the work, as many of her sculptures are placed outdoors (her work is currently being shown at the Storm King Art Center in Mountainville, New York). She then draws lines on the wood and has her “cutters” slice where she has drawn. She follows this by having special assistants, whose only responsibility is to drill and screw the pieces together. Afterwards, von Rydingsvard coats the sculpture in a glue base, sands it and finally uses a brush to cover the sculpture in fine graphite, being sure to get into every pore of the wood. She controls the shade of the graphite by vacuuming excess powder and scouring the surface. This process is labor-intensive and time consuming. The results show this:  the heavy sculptures have a strong, energetic presence and are worth experiencing first hand, if not at a gallery then a public space.

 

“ERRĀTUS” at Galerie Lelong runs through May 1^st

 

Galerie Lelong

528 West 26^th Street

Take the C or E train to 23^rd Street and/or the M23 Bus to 10^th Avenue

Gallery Hours: Tue-Sat, 10 - 6

Gallery Website: http://www.galerielelong.com/

 

Joan Jonas: “Drawing/Performance/Video” at Location One

By: Simmy Swinder

 

I didn’t see a major difference between a poem, a sculpture, a film, or a dance. A gesture has for me the same weight as a drawing: draw, erase, erase-memory erased.

– Joan Jonas

 

In “Drawing/Performance/Video,” Joan Jonas, former senior artist in Location One’s artist residence program, was asked to select her performance pieces that related to drawing.  Upon viewing these, I was immediately reminded of the 1956 documentary Le mystère Picasso (Jonas assured me she saw the film after beginning her career as a video performance artist). In Le mystère Picasso, French director Henri Georges Clouzot situates the camera in front of a transparent screen which Picasso then paints on from behind. While Clouzot was documenting Picasso’s artistic process, Jonas’s process is the actual documentation; the artistic act of producing a work becomes the work itself. Jonas claims that she was preceded by a period when artists and dancers frequently collaborated, leading her to consider how different people use movement and how one's body can be utilized as an artistic tool. It’s no wonder then that Jonas’s markings are made with the grace and force of a professional dancer. She often works with composers Alvin Lucier and Jason Moran to create accompaniments to her video art, making the musical component integral to her work.

A pioneer of video performance, Jonas is one of the most significant female artists to emerge in the late 1960s. Her performances fall in the category of conceptual art; they are laden with symbolism and self-reflection. Through her drawings and performances, Jonas strives to give an abstract idea visual form and dimension. She began her artistic practice as a sculptor and continues to think like one: her video compositions are deeply founded on the use of space as a medium and toy with the idea of spatial ambiguity. The sets of her performances become sculptures in their own right. One such performance was Left Side Right Side (1972), first performed at Leo Castelli Gallery in 1973. Here Jonas filmed herself and a mirror image of herself—introducing an element of self-portraiture— The final image the viewer is left with is tripartite: the artist, her reflection, and a video. In this way she directly interacts with her viewer and successfully splits her identity. Jonas was inspired to incorporate mirrors by the literature of Jorge Luis Borges, who wrote frequently about labyrinths, the infinite universe, reflection and mirrors. This concern with personal identity is evident in Joan Jonas’ work and could be safely said to be a precursor to how Cindy Sherman uses photography as self-portraiture to address the same issues.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Joan Jonas, Still from Double Lunar Dog. Courtesy of Location One.

 

 

 

Ontological questions of self-knowledge are raised in Double Lunar Dogs, a 25-minute video first performed in 1983. Based on Robert A. Heinlein’s fiction novel Universe, it takes place on a spaceship wandering aimlessly through the universe, occupied by a group of five men and women from a past society who cannot remember where they come from or what their mission is. They attempt to piece together their collective memory by painting each other and uttering incomplete phrases but are rebuked by the “Authority” for their futile attempts to regain a fading memory of earth; its “a story of love” and “romantic” ancestors. The video also contains images of a hand slicing a human brain in half, symbolizing the people on the spaceship losing a significant part of their inherent human sensitivity or even just memory.

Such surrealist elements reminded me of Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí’s 1929 surrealist film, Un Chien Andalou. It comes as no surprise that Joan Jonas’s work is full of art historical similarities. Jonas is a renaissance woman in a time when broad knowledge is more common than in-depth knowledge. Her literary symbolism, historical and mythological references and philosophical angles are intellectually stimulating and makes for a cohesive body of work. Artists of her rank are rare and I urge others to see first hand what the work of a pioneer looks like.

 

“Drawings/Perspectives/Film” at Location One runs through May 8^th

 

Location One

26 Greene Street

Take the 6, N, Q, R, W, J, M, Z, A, C, E or 2 train to Canal Street

Gallery Website: http://www.location1.com

“Graphic Heroes, Magic Monsters: Japanese Prints by Utagawa Kuniyoshi from the Arthur R. Miller Collection” at the Japan Society

By: Meredith P. Nelson

 

  Recently opened at the Japan Society is “Graphic Heroes, Magic Monsters: Japanese Prints by Utagawa Kuniyoshi,” a stunning exhibition showcasing the works of one of the leading print masters of the pre-modern era. Utagawa Kuniyoshi (ca.1797- 1861), is credited with creating over 10,000 prints during his career, and while he specialized in samurai scenes depicting famous historical warriors, his oeuvre also includes scenes of landscapes, beautiful women, scenes from popular theater and humorous topics. Above all else, what comes across most in this exhibition is his remarkable artistic ingenuity and masterful sense of composition.

Some of his works are quite crowded in nature, utilizing elaborately decorated, flowing robes and chaotic glimpses of scenery to convey the frenetic energy of the battling samurai. The Japanese Warrior Kashiwade no Hanoshi kills a tiger in Korea, 1830-32, for example shows a samurai engaged in fierce battle with a vicious looking tiger.

 

 

 
Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Japanese Warrior Kashiwade no Hanoshi Kills a Tiger in Korea, 1830-32. Color woodblock print, 14 5/8 x 10 1/2 in. American Friends of The British Museum (The Arthur R. Miller Collection) 02806. Photo © Trustees of The British Museum.

 

 

 

  The detailed patterning on the samurai’s robes and its rigid drapery lose distinction against the tiger's patterned coat as the two figures tumble along an awkward stretch of a snowy mountain ledge. In other works, Kuniyoshi uses a single oversized motif to convey strength and to draw immediate visual interest, as in Benkei drags the bell of Mii temple up Mt Hiei, 1845-46.

 

 

 
Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Monk Benkei Drags the Giant Bell of Mii Temple Up Mount Hiei, 1845-46. Color woodblock print, 14 5/8 x 29 7/8 in. The British Museum, JA 1915.8-23.0921 (1-3). Photo © Trustees of the British Museum.

 

 

 

  Using the triptych form- Kuniyoshi’s own innovation- the artist spreads the giant bell across three pages. Benkei, with his rippling (literally!) muscles pulls the bell upwards at the far left, while the right side of the scene is left uncluttered, occupied only by a few small onlookers and an overhanging tree branch. The result is a clear impression of the impossibly heavy weight and the brute force of Benkei. 

Kuniyoshi's imagination and framing abilities are not limited only to samurai scenes, however. In Three women with umbrellas in a summer shower, 1849-51, Kuniyoshi uses rain, which he articulates beautifully as thin vertical lines grouped in loose clumps, as a geometric background on which to place three women in boldly patterned kimonos, lifting their skirts to avoid getting wet. The framing device highlights the lovely curving figures of the women while creating a playful scenario. He again uses a large, dominating motif, this time of a giant cat in Kabuki actor Onoe Kikugoro III as the Spirit of the Cat Stone, 1835 to draw immediate attention to the scene. However, rather than isolating the motif, he surrounds it with the ongoing action of the fantastic kabuki players. The result is a recreation of the captivating and fantastic nature of the play demonstrated in mid-action. 

 

 

 

 
Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Kabuki Actor Onoe Kikugorō III as the Spirit of the Cat Stone, c. 1835. Color woodblock print, R: 14 1/2 x 10 1/8 in., C: 14 5/8 x 10 in., L: 14 1/2 x 10 1/8 in. American Friends of The British Museum (The Arthur R. Miller Collection) 19408. Photo © Trustees of The

British Museum.

 

 

 

  While the formal, compositional aspects of these works are immediately attention-grabbing, it is far from the only interesting point of the exhibition. Kuniyoshi’s creativity, as well as his wit, sense of humor and intelligence are all plainly visible through the works displayed. The imagery he employs in many of his prints is absolutely stunning. The Ghosts of the Taira warriors on the seabed at Daimotsu bay, 1851 shows sunken samurai surrounded by giant crabs with subtly human faces and other life-like sea creatures, taking a the scene to new heights of ingenuity. And in Octopus Games, 1840-42, (one of my personal favorites) the artist illustrates peevish looking octopi wearing kimonos and engaged in wrestling and fighting games. These works are definitely not to be missed!

 

 

 

 
Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Octopus Games, 1840-42. Color woodblock print, 14 1/2 x 9 5/8 in. American Friends of The British Museum (The Arthur R. Miller Collection) 21402. Photo © Trustees of The British Museum.

 

 

 

  The exhibition is not merely a demonstration of the artist's talent, however. While the show is organized according to the subject matter listed above, it also deals with the issues of European artistic influence -clearly seen in some of the works- in addition to political censorship, which Kuniyoshi frequently circumvented in creative ways. Interestingly, the artist's working method is also addressed with the inclusion of drawn compositions ready for transcription onto woodblocks. In my experience, this aspect of printmaking is rarely addressed in exhibitions of this sort, and it is a welcome inclusion.

  Ultimately, the exhibition is most definitely worth visiting. The works displayed are visually arresting and engaging and the contextual material is well presented. Any fan of contemporary Japanese manga or anime would likely appreciate this show, since these prints seem to hold many parallels to contemporary visual production in these areas. 

 

 

“Graphic Heroes, Magic Monsters: Japanese Prints by Utagawa Kuniyoshi from the Arthur R. Miller Collection” at the Japan Society runs through June 13^th

 

Japan Society

333 East 47^th Street

 

Take the 4, 5 or 6 trains to Grand Central Station, the 6 train to 51^st Street, the E or V train to 53^rd Street or the M15 bus to 47^th Street

Gallery Hours: Tues-F, 11-6; Sat and Sun, 11-5

Gallery website: www.japansociety.org

 

"The Mourners: Medieval Tomb Sculptures from the Court of Burgundy" at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

By: Meredith P. Nelson

 

 

 

 Jean de la Huerta and Antoine le Moiturier, Mourner with Drawn Hood, Holding a Book with his Right Hand and Drying his Eyes with a Fold of his Cloak in his Left Hand, 1443-57, alabaster, 40.5 x 15 x 13.5 cm. Image courtesy of the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon.

 

 

A renovation project at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Dijon has proven to be a boon to The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Elegantly displayed in the Medieval Sculpture Hall at the Met are the alabaster mourner figures that decorate the tomb of John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy (1371-1419), normally on view in the Fine Arts museum in Dijon, but on exhibition in the U.S. through 2012 while the French renovation project is underway. While the tomb was started in 1439, the figures themselves were completed between 1443 and 1456 by Jean de la Huerta and Antoine le Moiturier and modeled after the earlier mourner figures made for the tomb of Duke Philip the Bold by Claus Sluter. The small figures represent a wide cross section of the medieval population, including laity, clergy and nobility. Each one is remarkably unique and life-like, from the mysterious hooded figure who uses his sleeve to wipe away his tears of grief, to the proud bishop who holds his staff and stares unflinchingly ahead.

 

 

 
 
Jean de la Huerta and Antoine le Moiturier, Bishop, 1443-57, alabaster, 44 x 17.5 x 14.5 cm. Image courtesy of the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon.

 

 

 

In the Musée des Beaux-Arts, the figures were difficult to see in detail because of their location below the effigies of the Duke and his wife, Margaret of Bavaria. Their installation at the Met affords the viewer an unprecedented view. Mounted almost at shoulder level (well, ok, shoulder level for my towering 5'4") they still enact their continuous funeral procession without being obscured by an elaborate gothic arcade. The newly afforded close examination reveals normally overlooked details; a medieval book bag, a face hidden by a hood, the touch of polychromy on a gospel book. The location of the small exhibition also calls to mind the atmosphere of the tomb's original location, the medieval church of Champmol. The towering stone arches and stone slab floors are evocative of a medieval cathedral setting, while the reproductions of the crests of Margaret of Bavaria and John the Fearless on banners overhead helps create an authentic atmosphere. Even the wall texts are reproduced on banners hung around the installation. The mourners are further complemented by a handful of sculpted works from the Met's permanent collection, tying the whole thing together well. It's a small exhibition, but I guarantee that you'll spend more time than you typically would, admiring the tiny, mimetic details of the processing figures. Don't miss this wonderful opportunity to see some fabulous late Medieval sculpture up close and personal. 

 

 

“The Mourners: Medieval Tomb Sculptures from the Court of Burgundy” runs through May 23

 

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

1000 Fifth Avenue

Take the 4, 5, or 6 trains to 86^th Street

Museum Hours: Tues-Thurs, 9:30-5:30;  F-Sat, 9:30-9:00;  Sun, 9:30-5:30

Exhibition Website: http://www.metmuseum.org/special/se_event.asp?OccurrenceId={A847D374-B77D-4447-B515-6187127F6462}

 

 

 

 

“Remember That You Will Die: Death Across Cultures” at the Rubin Museum of Art

By: Justin Wolf

 

 

 

 
Skull Pocket Watch, Europe, 1701-1900, silver. Courtesy of the Science Museum, London

 

  Memento Mori is the Latin-Christian maxim translated as “Remember that you will die.” It is altogether sobering and, in some perverted sense, comforting; it’s an epitaph for the masses—commoners and kings alike. It is also the subject of the Rubin Museum’s latest offering, of the same name, and although said offering is a modest one (it’s probably too much to ask for them get a Cézanne or Van Gogh skull still-life on loan), this exhibition is, quite literally, breath-taking.

  “Remember That You Will Die” is a cross-sampling of European-Christian and Tibetan-Buddhist artworks and artifacts, mostly from the 16^th and 17^th centuries, with a contemporary video art installation for its centerpiece. Selected from a short list of lenders, including the Met, the Museum of Natural History, and London’s Science Museum, each piece is displayed with the careful precision of an ornithological taxidermist. The exhibition’s paintings and sculpture, its rosaries made from human bone and papier-mâché death masks, its macabre “quotidian objects” all scream Don’t Touch!, and they have a point. It’s better for everyone’s peace of mind that these stunning relics, much like our everlasting souls, remain unblemished.

  The most popular Western incarnation, so to speak, of Memento Mori, is the depiction of Judgment Day, when Christ decides to make his return to earth and do what needs doing. Side by side on one wall are two 16^th-century Dutch oil paintings – The Last Judgment and Christ’s Descent into Hell – that relay this tale with all the subtlety befitting fire and brimstone.

  In the former, Christ returns via some medieval-looking Stargate. Raising his right arm, he guides his followers upward, and with his left arm held at waist-level, he keeps the heretics at bay while swarthy blue-green demons infiltrate the crowd and carry out their worst. For a chuckle (or scare), take note of the painting’s bottom-left corner, where a simian-like Judas character is emerging from his gopher hole, and wearing a self-satisfied grin at having snuck in among the saved. The scale of Last Judgment is crude, its painterly touches a tad overly precious, but its narrative will strike a chord in even the most devoted atheist.

  As for Christ’s Descent, painted in the style of Hieronymus Bosch, just imagine a wide-angled snapshot of Middle Earth if Lord Sauron had gotten back his ring. Rivers of oil cut through burnt canyons and cavernous voids, while the emaciated masses walk amongst larger-than-life rats and owls and, in one instance, a creature that appears to be the face of an Israelite grafted onto the hind parts of an eagle. The painting shows us the Harrowing of Hell, wherein John the Baptist, acting as travel agent, paved the way for Jesus to enter Hell and, supposedly, view the procession of the damned. Still, it’s a safe bet that J.C. showing up was the highlight to their day.

 

 

 
Lords of the Charnel Grounds (one from set of two), Tibet, 18^th century, bronze.

Courtesy of American Museum of Natural History

 

 

  Heading over to the gallery’s eastern artifacts, I am faced with objects that treat death as something with a little more equanimity – as in, “Let’s embrace what we all know is coming,” versus Western civilization’s take, “You best atone now or there’ll be hell to pay.” A Buddhist’s death (and his general attitude towards it) is no less bona fide than a Christian’s, but when it comes to the ultimate truth in artistic form, I for one appreciate a lesson in human anatomy over the bravura of the second coming.

  On that note, perhaps the creepiest artifact on hand is Skeleton Club, a 19^th-century Tibetan wand made from wood, pigment and plaster. This armless torso is all ribs and vertebrae, with blood-shot eyes and a shit-eating grin that send chills down your spine. In Tibetan lore, Yama the Lord of Death holds his skeleton club while presiding over the various Buddhist “hells.” Skeleton Club must have been quite the archaeological find, but to this contemporary, it looks like a curio from Tim Burton’s childhood toy chest.

  In the center of all this is American artist Bill Viola’s silent video installation, Three Women, from his 2008 Transfigurations series. On a plasma screen the approximate shape and size of a doorway, Viola’s three subjects – Anika, Cornelia, and Helena Ballent, each a generation apart – step towards us in ultra slow motion, swathed in a grainy black-and-white that looks as dated as it does haunting. Each woman becomes transformed as she (oldest first) passes through a crystalline waterfall, rendering her to full color and clarity, having arrived on earth and, more to the point, onto the top floor of the Rubin with the rest of us. My eyes meet hers, and I am jarred from my spot; physiologically, I’m scared to my bones.

 

 

 

 
Bill Viola, Three Women, 2008 , color high-def video on plasma display mounted on wall.

Photo courtesy of Smithsonian Art Museum

 

 

 

  After the youngest of the women has been transfigured, one by one they turn around and slowly pass back into obscurity, through the waters that take life as easily as they grant it. Watch as much of Three Women as your constitution will allow. There is no beginning and no end; there’s no “show time” to catch. It just is.

  Death is certain and for that reason alone it is just. And even though “Remember That You Will Die” is designed to “startle viewers out of apathy,” I find it more startling for its treatment of how seemingly divergent cultures deal with this certainty, day in and day out. This exhibit affected me on a more immediate level, or perhaps, a less consequential one. I was struck by how fun I imagined curating this thing must have been; cobbling together a sparse variety of objects and artworks that are, for better or worse, death incarnate – “Memento Mori” with a wink and a smile.

   

 

 

 

“Remember That You Will Die: Death Across Cultures” at the Rubin Museum of Art, runs through August 9^th

 

The Rubin Museum of Art

150 West 17^th Street

Take the A, C, E to 14^th St., the 1, 2, 3 to 14^th St., the F, V to 14^th St., the L to 14^th St., or the N, R, Q, W, 4, 5, 6 to 14^th St/Union Sq.

Museum Hours: M-Thurs, 11-5; W, 11-7; F, 11-10; Sat-Sun, 11-6

Exhibition website: http://www.rmanyc.org/nav/exhibitions/view/543