Volume
III
Issue 17
Summer 2001
| Home
Is Where the Art Is by Homer O'Mei
Home Art |
Wall title, 2001, by Jeff Benjamin. |
Faced with imminent eviction from his tiny borrowed East Village studio, Jeff Benjamin decided to call a raft of artist friends to submit art that touched notions of sudden dislodging, uprooting, longing of belonging - a loss of home. This group show, entitled Home Art, brought together over thirty artists in all media, players familiar with one another and with a plight similar to many urban dwellers. These friends provided inspiration and conciliation and their work, crammed floor to ceiling in this small abode, became the currency not welcomed by absentee gatekeepers.
Hen,
2000, by Laura Hammond. Ceramic,
12 x 12 x 12 inches (approximate).
The large ceramic "mother" hen by Laura Hammond, perched atop a wooden chair suspended in a corner, seemingly bursting with eggs, kept "incubating" until a proper home could be found. Tony Stanzione balanced a five-foot-tall branding iron with a grapefruit-size stone grip before a pad of graph paper whose layers were burned by the brand's outline of a peaked roof above two walls - a skeletal framework reference to shelter. These two works were not idle lamentations, but an idea of inexplicably excessive procreation comfortably floating above the ground and an idea of making one's mark with the angry scorching of fragile paper.
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detail, Brand |
Brand, 2000, by Tony Stanzione. |
The domesticity of Harwood's hen countered by the angry jab of Stanzione's brand was like a father's fist punching out a wall in the face of a gentle mother's nurturing spirit hovering nearby. This spirited mix bit the grubbing hands of the occasion in no mincing terms. Home Art allowed these neighboring works an uneasy coexistence, as battling sibs clamor for attention around the dinner table.
Wooden Spoons, 2000, by Jeff Benjamin. Carved hardwood, 5 feet (extended
dimension).
Wall piece, 2000, by Therese Tripoli. Mixed media (partial view).
Drawing, 2000, by Josh Dorman. Ink on paper, 8 x 10 inches.
Jeff Benjamin's two wooden spoons connected by a wooden chain, all carved from a single stick, could make eating a herky-jerky game of absurd table etiquette. These quirky linked implements from the backwoods, playful mentality of a real-life carpenter represent an open date for a food fight.
Untitled, 2000, by Josh Dorman. Ink drawing, 11 x 14 inches.
An ink drawing by Josh Dorman showing a man sleeping, his head just outside a large box - a common sight among the city's homeless - is placed amidst rolling hills, in a pastoral setting, a home for pleasant dreams. (Overheard: He said to her, "Home is ultimately inside us.") The entry to this dreamland, however, lay just behind the eyelid of the artist. This beautiful dreamer inhabits his own time and place, regenerating, resting and forever dreaming.
Occasionally during the opening, a collective shudder would pass through the crowd. Approximately every six minutes, a knocking at the door. Had agents of eviction come to roost? These random knocks emanated from an audio tape loop made by Ezra Waltermaurer that was hidden in a backpack above the door. The sudden dampening was nervously laughed off, but the tension would spring out again when the tape loop repeated. Though you knew it was only a tape, it momentarily allowed the disturbed neighbors, cops or even the landlord inside. The expectation of being evicted overran this gathering of homemakers.
Mousehole, 2001, by Gordon Douglas. Painted wood, 3 x 19 inches.
A quaint invitation was issued by Gordon Douglas, in the form of an antique mousehole within an old baseboard, placed along the floor edge, lit with a welcoming lamp. Invite issued but without a response. It seems Jeff's furry roommates had already found new digs: No time to party, they knew where they were going and had to leave quickly.
For one night, home was where the art was, with the rest of the world kept just outside the door.
About the Author:
Homer O'Mei believes home is where the art is, but a lease with an option to buy is like an empty roll of paper towels in the gallery kitchen. He may be contacted in care of the editor at editor@arts4all.com.
The Home Art show
was exhibited briefly in Jeff Benjamin's New York City apartment,
during February 2001. Jeff Benjamin, bench, Home Gallery and green bagels.
