ARTS
Four Artists Express a Thin Line at Visual Aid Exhibition Art Review Sister Dana Van Iquity
T he l ate a r t i st/ act iv i st/w r iter Dav id Wojnarow icz once w rote, “There’s a thin line between the i n s id e a nd t he out s id e; a t h i n line between thought and action; and t hat l ine is simply made up of blood and muscle and bone.” The works in t he latest show by Visual A id on the 9th f loor of 57 Post Street are historical reminder s of t he A mer ica n ex per ience of this thin line in the early years of A IDS. Wojnarowicz, who died of A I DS in 1992, is represented by t hree pieces includ ing h is most fa mous, “Fa l l ing Buf fa lo,” t he st un n i ng i mage of t hree bison stampeding over a clif f. The work is in reality a photograph of a diorama, and the toy-like qualit y of t he piece m i ngles a spect s o f h o r r o r a n d i n t i m a c y. T h i s “rise and fall and impending disaster” theme f inds expression in two other Wojnarowicz pieces on display. A Dow Jones chart is superimposed on a map of America, por trayed w ith a br ight red target; and a journal entr y describi ng yea r s of homophobic abu se becomes a r age-f ueled i nca nt ation written over two underwater huma n f ig ures. Wou ld t hat t h is rev iewer had the opportunit y to interview the artist. For t unately, Ph i l ip Zimmer man is alive and was able to speak with Bay Times. Zimmerman’s assemblage, “James Ba ldw in L ecture” ( it s work i n g t it le) f u nc t ion s a s both archive and memor ial. Encased in Plex iglas, a large book f i l led w it h gold-hued Polaroids, love letters, and other ephemera relat ing to h is late par t ner, t h is work resembles something found in a mag ician’s cabinet. F lanked on eit her side by paper-t h i n element s del icately pi n ned to t he w a l l , Z i m m e r m a n’s w o r k i s a w idower’s constellation of reveries and memories - an eerie homage to T he One f irst found and f inally lost. From the East Village, Zimmerman moved back to San Francisco w it h his par tner, A l lan St inson, w ho m he h a d me t i n N YC i n 19 8 4. I n t he 19 9 0 's , Z i m merman ex hibited bot h here and in Oregon, being represented by the Jamison-Thomas Gallery in Portland until it closed in 1996 following the death of William Jamison of A I D S . I n S a n Fr a nc i s c o i n late 1989, he bega n work i ng on a piece ca l led “Document: Map t h r ou gh Pa ndemon iu m .” C ombining the cities of Portland, San Francisco, and New York, he conceived of a map of this conf lation a nd lo c at i n g poi nt s of s p ec i f ic events on the grid, tying them to pieces of ephemera, which he calls “ev idences” col lected in his d ifferent existences within those urban “realities.” He clarif ies, “The ev idences were t h i ng s l i ke pho tos found abandoned in my stolen truck upon its retrieval in N YC;
PHOTO BY SIST ER DANA VAN I QUI T Y
Now through Aug. 31, the works of t h r ee l iv i n g a r t i st s a nd one decea sed a re on d i s pl ay i n t he galler y of Visual A id, an organizat ion suppor t ing ma kers of ar t st r uggl i ng w it h l i fe t h reaten i ng illness. The exhibition is entitled “A T h i n L i ne: E xt i nct ion, Su rv i v a l , Tr a n s for m a t ion” a n d i s curated by Visual A id Executive Director Julie Blankenship.
Artist Daniel Goldstein and Visual Aid Executive Director Julie Blankenship at the opening of the exhibition at the Visual Aid gallery.
of f icial documents relating to the death of my f irst friend to die of A IDS in 1986; hand-written signage advertising ‘Slow Blow Jobs’ and ‘Homeless/ A I DS;’ a newscl ippi ng about a n acqua i nt a nce d r o w n i n g o f f t he p i e r s i n t he Hud son R iver wh i le at tempt i ng to rescue an attempted suicide; a photo-portrait of my friend w ith t er r ible d i s f i g u r i n g K S on h i s nose, etc.” He says he signed it by including his Museum of Modern Art photo ID. He e x p l a i n s h i s t e c h n i que: “ I have always collected things, and after many years in the business a s a pa r t-t i me a nt iques restorer, I have shar pened my eye for subtleties of surface, form, color, and patina. I sort, interpret, construct, reassemble meaning from various clues lodged within found objects, discovered signif iers, and lost treasures.”
the images. A lot of the more diff icult work to photograph hasn’t yet been documented. But the descriptive statements for each sect ion t a l k about my development - the way I’ve seen my progression in life - as an artist.” He adds, “It is a long jou r ney f rom t here to here, standing in front of the work titled, ‘James Baldwin Lecture.’” Beg un in 199 0, “James Ba ldw in L ect ure,” one of a ser ies of ten works he calls “Discussions” that h ave t a ken for m i n bi nder s , i s the most directly personal, being about h i s ten-yea r rel at ion sh ip w ith his partner, A l lan St inson, a nd t he v a r iou s dy n a m ic s t h at c a me to pl ay i n t hei r rel at ionsh ip. T hese i ncluded homopho bia - both internal and external - racism, socio-economic imbala n c e s ( h e w a s Ya l e - e d u c a t e d )
a nd l a st ly, t he i mpact of H I V/ A IDS as it surrounded them, ult i mately t a k i ng St i nson on Ju ly 19, 1994. The work contains personal ephemera: love-letters, photog r aph s , d r aw i ng s , docu ment s such as his last unf inished journal and a death certif icate. He says, “ I see it as, rat her t ha n con fes sion or revelation, an understanding, a testament to growth and the power of Fierce Love in the face of what [at the time] felt like everything arrayed against it and as a release from the terrible guilt I had as a survivor.” He s ay s he w a s i n it i a l l y he s i tant to put forth such a personal piece. “Fear fu l, even,” he adds. “But because of the vision of Julie Blankenship and how she saw t he ex h ibit ion com i ng toget her - t hrough her gent le encourage-
ment, I agreed. In the long run I realized there would be no better env ironment: surrounded by the works of my friend, David Wojnarow icz and t he work of Dan iel Goldstein, one of which I might we l l h ave worke d on my s e l f ( I used to be a studio assistant when he w a s f abr ic at i n g t he le at her pieces) a nd t he elega nce of David King.” Note: Both artists will be reviewed in coming Bay Times articles. He continues, “It is absolutely the right time and place. T he welcom ing suppor t of Ju l ie and Kyle and Patr icia at Visua l A id helped m a ke t h i s pos s ible. I a l so must ment ion t hat a few mont hs ago I took t he work out to revisit it and asked my friend, the artist Dav id Max im, to help me g a i n some object iv it y about this work. He reviewed the piece a nd over t he c ou r s e of s e ver a l discussions helped me to attain a comfort level about a possibilit y of future exhibition. I initially began the review because I was concer ned t hat if somet hing shou ld happen to me, the work would be lost, and I felt it was too important to let that happen.” When asked what he wanted people who view his art to come away feel i ng, he re pl ies , “ I l i ke t h i s quest ion, bec ause it a s k s about feel ing - not t hin k ing. This was somet hing A l lan a lways pointed out to me. He would say, ‘I didn’t ask what you thought. I want to k now what you feel.’” Zi m merma n says, “ I l i ke feel i ng t hat a lot of the information is ‘unavailable.’ Some of it, being very persona l, I a m not ready to revea l at t h is t i me. S ome t h i ng s don’t
He cla i ms a lot of col lect i ng a nd sor t i ng is i nvolved, w it h a r r ay s of objec t s - s ome s eem i ng to have more mea n i ng t ha n ot her s. “ I keep t he object s a nd u s e t hem i n lo o s e a s s o c i at ion s i n it ia l ly. O ver t i me, t he g roup ings of objects and informat ions tighten and are ref ined. Meaning is tweaked through juxtaposition and a lterat ion. W hen an opport un it y to ex h ibit present s it sel f, somet imes after many years, the work is k i nd of ‘ bi r t hed’ i nto a specif ic and solidif ied form.” He says this lasts for the duration of the ex hibit. Then the pieces are dis-assembled, stored, and re-organized. Some of the pieces (the intr insica l ly va luable frag ments) he says get sold to pay bills, and t hus t he con f ig urat ion changes: “ Ne w t h i n g s a r r i ve; ne w r e a l i zat ions a re a r r ived at; a nd t he work progresses.” He says, “The way I work at this point has become largely opportunistic in that much of the mater ial manifestation of it depends on what crosses my pat h a nd engages me i n t he living of my life. This makes the work much less manneristic than my earl ier work - much less dependent on a n a r t precedent . I like to think it is more informed w ith a life-based narrative - less fantastical but still infused with a sense of the marvelous, the mystical.” H is message to ar t v iewers? “ Somet i mes I feel l i ke a sorcerer, and sometimes the poet. I’m probably a bit of both.” To get a good sense of the range i n for m a nd m ater i a l s t h at h i s work covers, he of fers his website: ph i l ipchr ist ianzimmer man.com, commenting, “It is currently a bit decrepit , a nd t here a re no cap tions or dimensions available for BAY T IM ES JULY 14, 2011 11