THE GAZETTE
Wednesday, August 7, 2013 p
Page A-13
The surreal world of puppetry; a young painter in Silver Spring
ON VIEW BY CLAUDIA ROUSSEAU be struck by the very thin line between puppets and Surrealist art made evident here. This observation is, however, not new. Art historians have long been intrigued by the actual use of puppets and dolls by both Dada and Surrealist artists, especially women, in the 1920s and 30s. The connection is actually not surprising when we recall that Surrealists were concerned with primal feelings and ideas, with fantasy and dreams, and the art of children. Paul Klee made 50 handpuppets that he never exhibited, but Hannah Hoch not only made puppet dolls, but also had herself photographed with them. Such toys were attractive because of their ambiguity. Puppets and dolls can have semiotic ambivalence, as figures of delight or of horror, and often simultaneously. The exhibit combines puppets of various kinds, including some historical pieces borrowed from the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut. Among these are two leather and ink Indian shadow puppets on sticks (c. 1900), and three puppets from the 1930s by Rufus and Margo Rose, the famed puppet makers who created Howdy Doody. An abstract paper and wire mask and puppet is by Heather Henson, daughter of Muppets inventor Jim Henson, and founder of IBEX Puppetry, an entertainment company dedicated to promoting the art of puppetry in all of its various aspects. There are photographs of puppet performances — probably the least interesting elements in the exhibit — and a number of very loud videos, definitely the most annoying part of the show. On the second floor Gallery 2 is completely occupied with an installation by Michael Cotter, founder of the Blue Sky Puppet Theatre. This is also accompanied by a much-too-loud sound component, perhaps intended
to suggest a circus or carnival atmosphere. Cotter’s soft puppets, much like large stuffed animals, are arranged on stage-like structures on two sides of the gallery. High up, they leer down at the viewer with large eyes. The strangeness of this installation would confirm the notion that at the heart of puppet theater is a surreal premise that reaches into and out from the realm of children’s imagination and dreams. Also in this gallery is a panel supporting 20 paintings by Cotter of hands. “Handscapes” has a strong — and one assumes intentional — Surrealist aesthetic. Each painting shows a hand, some with strings, one behind bars, and one with an open door in its middle. The allusion to the hand that manipulates the puppet, creating various narratives, is evident, but the paintings, and their juxtaposition to the puppet installation, serve to underline the uncanny effect of the whole. Artist Elyse Harrison’s installation occupies a room on the first floor. In a series of wooden crates, some very small and some about the size of fruit boxes, Harrison has created a series of narrative dioramas inhabited by painted plastic figures that are neither puppets nor dolls, but because of their fictionalized action, and the story they play out, resemble a puppet show in three-dimensional stills. The story is printed out on an easel in the center of the room, and each box represents another scene in this little tale about the trials of Jack Inthebox and Marion Ette, lovers and actors, with a happy
ending owing to their dog Mack. Each diorama functions as an independent work, although they are connected by storyline. Both charming and a little strange, this work epitomizes that delicate edginess of this aesthetic that once so engaged the likes of Klee and Hoch. Harrison has been working on this edge for some time and, not surprisingly, teaches art to children on a regular basis. Painter Ariel J. Klein graduated from Maryland Institute College of Art last year. He has received quite a lot of press recently because of his clever landing of an improvised studio and gallery space on the last block of Georgia Avenue in Montgomery County. Dubbed the “Purple Coconut Gallery” because of the purple walls in the storefront space, Klein is exhibiting work from the past three years. The paintings are all figurative, but to different degrees. Having spent 15 months at the University of Madrid School of Fine Arts in 2010-11, Klein has been particularly influenced by Spanish painting, in addition to generally modernist sources. Many of the works in this early solo bear a clear debt to Picasso, with echoes of Goya and other Spanish masters as well. The chief interest here is seeing the development of a young artist who has had the opportunity to expand his horizons and who is still finding his own voice. That trajectory is moving increasingly toward greater realism and dramatic narrative. Klein’s
most recent painting, “The Park,” painted just days before the opening, is without doubt the strongest in the exhibit. In it, two figures are confronting each other in what looks like the prelude to a fight. The work is enhanced by alterations to the perspective in the background
“No Strings Attached,” to Aug. 17, Mansion at Strathmore, 10701 Rockville Pike, N. Bethesda, 301581-5200, www.strathmore.org. Ariel J. Klein: Following the Thin Woman, to Aug. 18, The Purple Coconut, 7910 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring, 301-273-5628. www.arieljklein.com.
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that convey that sense of removal from reality during very tense situations; that bending of space that comes with fear. That this picture signals potential is a good indication of Klein’s eventual assimilation of his sources and creation of his own aesthetic.
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The exhibition currently at the Strathmore Mansion, “Puppets take Strathmore: No Strings Attached,” captures the fundamentally strange and fascinating aspect of puppets. With it, curator Harriet Lesser intends to provoke thinking about our reaction to puppets, as well as their artistic value. Wandering through the galleries you can’t help but
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