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GALLERY COMMENTARY

"Helen of Troy" refers to our concepts of beauty which are

determined by the culture in which we live. This painting seeks to reveal that schism of difference which underlies cultural antagonisms.

"Night, Night, New York" is based on Georgia O'Keeffe's "Radiator Building - Night, New York" of 1927. This painting deals with inexpressable grief and loss. O'Keeffe's image of triumphant industrialized cityscape is transposed into an image of absence and vulnerability.

"White House/Your House" comments on the media obsession with sexuality at the expense of the coverage of actual news.

"Cinderella, Who Knew?" deals with violence against women. The myths of Disney did not prepare a generation of women to deal with the possibility of male violence.

"Mirage" deals with the ideology of romance in this country. Based on
Rosenquist’s "The Light That Won’t Fail 1", it refers to Lacan’s theory of lack at the base of our endless quest for love.

"The Felon" is based on the "The Fifer" by Manet, of 1866. In appropriatinghis composition, I am contrasting the innocence of the youth in his painting with the sardonic quality of the young man holding the knife. The rise of violent crime among young persons of all racial backgrounds in the past decade has risen sharply.

"Button/Mushroom" refers to the dangers of nuclear proliferation in a Post-Cold War environment

"B-2/Kukailimoku Blues" is an anti-war painting. The Gulf War was brought into the living rooms of the American public via television. We watched fascinated as smart bombs fell on the cities of Iraq with pinpoint accuracy. This technological fascination superseded any awareness of the pain and death caused by these bombs

"Cruise to Kuwait" is a painting that seeks to reveal the ambiguity of our involvement in the Gulf War. Although the public campaign to enter the war focused on the liberty of the Kuwaiti people, an economic self-interest was clearly also at stake. The lack of public clarity on this issue, lent itself to a kind of doublespeak (where one thing was said, while another was widely held to be true).

"Safe at Last" based on a child hood memory, this painting is an ironic comment on the end of the Cold War.

"Dusk, Railroad", based on Hopper's, "Railroad Sunset", of 1929, comments on the dissolution of constitutional safeguards to our liberty, enshrined in the Bill of Rights-namely, our right to due process, trial by jury and unlawful search and seizure.

"BABI YAR, BUCHENWALD, BALKANS:

A POSTMODERN PORTRAYAL"

EXHIBITION COMMENTARY

These paintings are rooted in the tradition of American Realism. They differ, however, from Social Realism in that they conceptualize rather than record events. Although social issues are the primary content of the paintings, the language of the paintings employs appropriation of past and present images, to create a universal statement.

"The Haywagon" is based on the "Triptych of the Haywain" by Hieronymous Bosch. It depicts the recent exodus of refugees from Kosovo. The Bosch painting is thought to be based on the Flemish proverb, "The world is a haywagon, from which each takes what he can." This composition as used as a point of reference to frame the continuum of greed and megalomania from Bosch's time to the present.

"The Housewife" depicts the existence of evil in the world. The watchtower of the concentration camp symbolizes evil, while the young woman symbolizes innocence. The composition is based on a painting by Cezanne, called "The Bather", of 1885. The figure is central to the composition. use of Cezanne's structure emphasizes the shift from an industrial to a virtual age. It underscores the moral shift, in terms of what is considered permissible by "civilized" society.

"In the Still of the Night" is a comment on American political apathy in the face of genocide. The title comes from a popular tune from the 50's.

"Shower, 1944" questions the presumed absence of G-d at the time of the Holocaust. The composition is based on Michaelangelo's "Creation of Adam", a work which testifies to an age of faith, certain of God's presence. "Shower, 1944" conveys theological doubt, as two hands reach out to each other, across the gas chamber

"Babi Yar/ Bosnia" is influenced by a painting by Andy Warhol. His work, "Before and After", refers to our perception of physical beauty, along racial lines, as influenced by advertisements. However, racial characteristics during the Holocaust could seal your doom. "Babi Yar/Bosnia" ses on that reality. The Aryan concept of racial perfection is not dead. Neo-Nazi movements are currently on the rise, both in Europe and in the United States. Mass executions took place in Bosnia, much as they did in Babi Yar.

"Buchenwald Remembered" is a painting that both recalls and envisions the horror of the concentration camps. It would appear from recent news that in fact Buchenwald set a precedent for the terror that was perpetuated in Bosnia. The painting was influenced by a photo of the li tion of Buchenwald by the Allies. Rows of skulls, which represent the victims, lie on the wooden planks that served as beds. Some of the skulls face forward, each with its own expression of disbelief or horror. The others resemble eggs lying inert on the shelf -- as if each life were no more or less than a pile of groceries, a still life with no identity or purpose -- dehumanized.

"Resistance" is based both on a painting by Goya, "The Executions of the Third of May, 1814," and on a photo taken in the Warsaw Ghetto. In the photo in which this painting is based, a group of Rabbis are surrounded by Nazi soldiers. There is no escape. (It was a short time from th rning of books in Nazi Germany to the burning of bodies.) Goya's depiction of cruelty in war provided an apt compositional device for this subject. In the foreground, I've placed Nazi helmets instead of backs of Napoleon's army. The background mirrors that of Goya's, to show the continuity of mans' suffering.

"Wedding Party, 1941" captures a moment poised on the threshold of disaster. The painting is based on a family photograph. None of the persons in the photo are assumed to have survived the war. The children are wearing yellow stars. They were not victims of a country at war. They were presumably murdered.

"Fascist" refers to the mass murders committed by 20th Century dictators such as Hitler and Stalin and totalitarian dictatorships, such as the Khmer Rouge. The gassing of the Kurdish population in Iraq, too, raised the specter of technology in the service of a criminal element. In th ainting, the form of the dictator is symbolized by an ape, a sub-human, as it were. The ape wears a pompous military cap. On the cap is emblazoned a prehistoric bird, the pterodactyl. This underlines its uncivilized nature. He swings through the forest holding the bones of his victims with glee, a madman.

"Pax-Americana According to the National Interest" comments on American apathy. In the summer of 1993, Warren Christopher stated on the evening news that it was not in the national interest to intervene in the war in Bosnia. The same exact expression was used by the State De ment during World War II to justify our lack of effort in saving Jews of Europe. Mass murderers were thereby given carte blanche to commit heinous crimes. The visual clichés that represent Liberty are therefore ironic.

"Bosnia/Bobbit" comments on the obsession of the American media with sexuality at the expense of the coverage of actual news. More Americans were aware of the fate of Mr. Bobbit, than were aware of the re-emergence of Concentration camps in Bosnia in 1992 or the bombardment of Sarajevo.

"The Disappeared" refers to the victims of genocide who rest in unmarked graves. It is dedicated to the families who have lost loved ones, taken from home, never to be seen again. It is especially dedicated to the 7,000 men and boys who disappeared one night from the village Srebrencia. This time, the world could not plead innocence.

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