Sara Cwynar’s exhibition Baby Blue Benzo, is a photography and installation based show that creates a unique gallery experience from the moment you walk in. The floors are covered with lush grey carpet, and many walls are filled with floor length photographs. These photographs are printed on tabloid sized papers and individually taped together with bright tape, highlighting the materiality. The outside perimeter of the show is a combination of these large scale images and more traditional gallery style hung work consisting of silkscreen and chromogenic prints of collages. The imagery is bright, consumeristic, and slightly retro, giving the show a technicolor and nostalgic feeling. This is further emphasized through the film running in the middle of the gallery. A wide screen projector is playing a 21 minute long video featuring the Blue Benzo along with Pamela Anderson and other models in the same bright and decorated atmosphere as the 2D components of the show.
Because of the compelling film and ceiling high images, the more typical work, although matching the same aesthetic, falls a little short and is simply overpowered. They try to compensate for this by getting creative with the placement of the photographs, however, that is not strong enough to balance the works and leaves you a little dissatisfied.
Your description of Sara Cwynar’s Baby Blue Benzo exhibition gives a great sense of the gallery space and brings me back to that unique experience. The details of the lush gray carpet and the floor-length photographs taped together create a strong impression of the exhibition's immersive qualities. I didn't realize that the film was 21 minutes long, perhaps it captured my attention so well that it made time feel shorter. The film conveyed a lot of information and messages, almost overwhelming. I appreciate your critique on the dissatisfied part, and would like to hear more of your thoughts on that!
ReplyDeleteI really appreciated your descriptive word choices; I thought they were well-chosen and encapsulated the experience of walking through the exhibition space. There are a few minor details that I noticed—the formatting between the two paragraphs is off (probably just a result of the blog being wonky) but it would help with visual continuity if they did match. Also, the exhibition title—“Baby Blue Benzo”---should have quotes around it when used. “More traditional gallery style hung work” reads a little awkwardly, I think rephrasing in some way would help with comprehension. When you say “getting creative with the placement of the photographs” could you elaborate on which part of the exhibition you are talking about? Since the exhibition was so large and complex, the works or parts of the exhibition you are describing at the end of the paragraph become a bit unclear. Clarifying/specifying and elaborating on the final few sentences of the last paragraph would help end the review off on a really strong note. I loved your take that the more typical works were lackluster, though! It gave me a new perspective on the show!
ReplyDelete