Looking for Amy and finding much more…

I loved Amy Winehouse.  She remains part of the soundtrack when I am making art.  An extraordinary talent that sadly lost her battle with her demons and died far, far too young. When a show dedicated to her turns up locally at the Contemporary Jewish Museum, I knew had to see it.  I also was curious, what could they tell us that was exhibit-worthy in Amy Winehouse: A Family Portrait?  Honestly, one would have to be the most obsessive of fan to really appreciate this show.  Frankly, Amy Winehouse grew up in a most ordinary family – as do many people who go on to do great things.  What would Amy ask if she saw this show?  You know I almost can hear, “What kind of fuckery is this?”

By no means was the afternoon a disappointment.  I love repurposing globes myself, and Dave Lane’s Lamp of the Covenant installation is outstanding (shown above).  If you don’t want to visit the entire museum, you can pop into the lobby and get a look.   And the second floor has a strong show titled Night Begins the Day: Rethinking Space, Time, and Beauty.  It features the work of 27 artists including a number of recent pieces by Fred Tomaselli that come close to stealing the show.  Personally it was a good follow up to a show I saw of his work in May.  This show closes September 20, 2015 – it’s worth getting a look before it ends.

Blackfield

I can say with confidence that today I saw what is the best art installation we’ll get to see this year in the Bay Area.  The Israeli artist Zadok Ben-David’s Blackfield installation is breathtaking. 

Prior to the work being installed, I saw the artist give a talk about the piece.  He discussed how growing up in rural Israel as well as coming from a long line of craftsman who made fine jewelry has informed his sculptures.  For Blackfield he uses thin aluminum.  With his assistants he makes hundreds of delicate, hand-cut aluminum flowers inspired by older engravings of flora.  They are all about 2”-6” tall and each is painted black.  They are installed on the floor, set in a field of white sand.  The initial effect reminds one of lace or even toile.

Imagine seeing an empty space, a circle filed with a layer of white sand.  And it’s filled with hundreds of these fine, hand-cut, metal flowers, all painted black.  You bend lower.  You realize you will have to get down on the floor.  The experience at eyelevel is totally different.  In his talk, Ben-David mentioned viewers comparing it to a forest after a fire.  Yes, it could be interpreted that way.  I saw winter and the leafless trees and black twigs sticking up through a layer of snow.  I stood up, and was taken back to winter on Cape Cod, with barren twigs poking up through sand dunes.

There is more.  All the individual pieces are installed, evenly, facing forward.  You slowly walk around to the backside and see that each individual hand painted plant and flower is no longer black.  The backside of each one is painted in intense, bright colors.  It’s dazzling.  Again you are drawn to the floor, needing to appreciate the piece at eyelevel.  The riot of color is spectacular.  Your eyes play tricks on you.  There is the allusion of movement.  It’s like a Monet come-to-life or a springtime California field in bloom after a very wet winter.  From the floor it’s seems as if there is a haze of color floating above the installation.  It’s an effect I have seen before in the Anza-Borrego Desert.  It happens when hundred of ocotillo bloom and create a blur of red haze.  You see the effect when you look towards a group of the  cactuses from a distance. 

Visiting Zadok Ben-David’s website will give you a good feel for his work.  It truly has to be seen in person.  Make a point of visiting the Contemporary Jewish Museum before September 9^th to experience Blackfield, the Bay Area’s best art installation of 2012.