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 Michal
Rovner |
THE WHITNEY: INSIDE AND OUT
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The Whitney Museum of American Art hosts one of the world's foremost collections of twentieth-century American art. The Whitney is perhaps most renowned for its Annual and Biennial exhibitions. While the museum has always managed on a modest budget, these major shows helped to both increase the collection as well as feature active American artists' works. The Whitney Museum of American Art is a superb place to visit if you are interested in seeing art of the present time and place. |
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Recently I visited the Whitney with no knowledge of what was showing. I figured I'd get to the museum and pick a floor to spend a few hours on. The first thing that struck my eye in the main lobby was the abstract paintings of Joan Mitchell. I immediately thought: "Joni Mitchell, the great folk singer, also a visual artist?" Turns out, there are really two of them, one who performs and one who paints. After a bit of research, I discovered that Joni Mitchell, the musician actually did dapple in paints later in her life, although not quite as abstractly or famously as her namesake. I wonder if Joan Mitchell, the great female abstract expressionist practiced her singing and guitar? |
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 Michal Rovner,
Echo, 1988 |
Since my own medium of choice is photography, I was personally struck by the images of Michal Rovner in her exhibit The Space Between. Israeli-born Rovner moved to New York City around the age of 30. Her work represents more than the space between her two geographic worlds. Rovner's video and photography reflects the differences between presence and ambiguity, identity and existence, landscape and figure, positive and negative (space), and birds and military aircraft, to name a few. Using simple subject matter, she evokes universal themes that transcend specific cultures and speak to a human audience. |
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When I first exited the elevator on the third floor, I was confronted with ambiguous, sorrowful sounds, meditative, maybe even organ music. The aural aspect to the exhibit was relaxing and even at times resembled natural earth-based sounds like wind or fire. This, coupled with the stark, emotive visuals created an unforgettable ambiance. The first work upon entering the exhibit was of a tin hut near the Dead Sea. Rover photographs in color using a large format Polaroid camera. All of her subjects are presented in gritty, ambiguous terms, as if the camera was moved during exposure, and in high color contrast. Most of her photographs illustrate patterns that stimulate the viewer's eye movement both in a particular image and through several works on one wall, or in one room. Color as well as black and white modes seem equally important for her to work in. This is illustrated in both, her photographic series Outside, 1990 (images of the tin hut, which was gone by the next time she visited and wished to photograph it), and in her black and white photographic and video series, Mutual Interest, 1997. Mutual Interest, her film, shows flocks of birds rising and shooting across two walls of a darkened gallery. |
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Her films' presentation is a far cry from the traditional letter-box style. |
Laced throughout the exhibit are Rovner's video productions. In fact many of her films are the impetus for her photography. Her series Mutual Interest features stills of the film on large canvas with pigmented ink jet as well as acrylic paintings on waxed paper suspended from the ceiling. Her films are mostly abstract (except for Border, which is narrative) and emphasize movement, blurring the boundary between reality and subjective experience. Her films' presentation is a far cry from the traditional letter-box style. Mutual Interest, is shown in two films simultaneously on two walls that meet in the corner. Another of her films, Overhanging, 1999 is featured on eight vertical screens lining a long room with benches on each end. Much of her film seems morose and contemplative, especially with the soundtracks, some of it inspired by her Gulf War Series from 1995. |
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More of Rovner's recent work features the presence of multiple figures set in landscape, moving. In both film and photography she explores the relationship between individual and community, figure and environment. Rovner's early training in modern dance and her choreographic skills illustrate perhaps where her work is going in the future. While her early works are seemingly narrative and found subjects, closer to the present we find her composing her own images not through chance, but through dance, and movement. |
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Michal Rovner's video and photography are highly abstract. The regular museum visitor who is familiar with older, more traditional works of art may not be able to appreciate the beauty of her inquiry. For this artist, one needs to open his mind to the possibilities of seeing reality from disparate places. The Whitney Museum of American Art has an off-site location across 42nd Street from Grand Central Station. Stay tuned next month for the second part of this series on the Whitney Museum of American Art. This September seems like the appropriate time to reflect on the art of Americans. |