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02/14/2006 08:34 AM
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NB Telegraph-Journal | Arts As published on page D1/D2 on January 28, 2006
Walking on Familial Ground online news
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KAREN RUET
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Rafael Goldchain explores his genealogy in a witty exhibition of self-portraits at Fredericton's Gallery Connexion. He's walking on "Familial Ground." The walls of the two rooms of the gallery are lined with portraits of different characters but underneath the wigs, vintage clothes and fake moustaches, they're all Goldchain. It's delightful to see Rafael Goldchain as Don Marcus Jose Goldchain Liberman, Rafael Goldchain as Reizi Goldszajn. He's his uncle, a cousin, his own grandmother.
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(Karen Ruet/Special to the TelegraphJournal)
Photographs are about the past, says Toronto-based photographer Rafael Goldchain. In his exhibition of self-portraits at Fredericton’s Gallery Connexion, he explores his genealogy.
The Toronto-based photographer says that when we look at old family photographs often what we're looking for is a trace of ourselves. It's a natural instinct to attempt to figure out who we are and where we come from and, in Goldchain's case, it's a piecing together of fragments. Relatives have become scattered. Memories are elusive - sometimes it's impossible to make a complete picture of a piece of the past. As he tries to put together the parts of his ancestral puzzle he realizes how difficult the task is.
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Photographs are always about the past, says Goldchain, because as soon as you snap a shutter that second in time is already gone, and eventually the details of that time and place fade. Sometimes recovery is impossible.
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The work here is complex: smart and serious, but also funny. The prints are larger than life and disarming in both their similarities and differences. The artist has provided his audience with clues to the drama he's created. If you look closely at one of the women, you will see chest hair peeking out of her blouse. The grandmother is decidedly masculine. He's done nothing to hide
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02/14/2006 08:34 AM
blouse. The grandmother is decidedly masculine. He's done nothing to hide the webbing on a fake moustache. Self-portraiture is a fine tradition, one explored in many different ways by many famous artists including Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh and Andy Warhol. There is no end to the number of artists who have on one occasion or another turned their medium on themselves. Famous photographers who have walked down the path of self-portraiture include Cindy Sherman (who has made an entire art career out of self-portraiture) and Canada's Diana Thorneycroft, and Goldchain is forging his way. His approach to this genre is fresh and original. The art resonates and Goldchain is well-versed in the language of art history. The series started as a graduate piece when he was doing a Masters of Fine Art in Photography at York University. Since his graduation he's shown in the United States, Cuba, Germany, Italy and Mexico, and has work in numerous public collections including the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Art. He is also the recipient of the Duke and Duchess Award in photography from The Canada Council for the Arts. After his artist talk on Friday night, students from the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design spent the weekend at a workshop with Rafael Goldchain learning about self-portraiture and the art of creation. Many brought images of glamorous movie stars to emulate. First-year-photography student Kathleen Breau (who chose an image of Ginger Rogers) says, "You learn so much about yourself by trying to be someone else." Familial Ground continues at Gallery Connexion until March 1. For more information contact Eleni Bakopoulos at 454-1433. The gallery is open Tuesday to Friday from noon until 4 p.m. and by appointment.
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