Tuesday, October 16, 2007

China Town- Mary Goldman Gallery





1 comment:

Art 08 said...

Mary Goldman


Being a fan of anything having to do with music, I was especially intrigued by this collection of work. Though very few pieces of the work involve the audience's participation; the portraits portray the spirit of what having adoring fans may mean to different people. The first two pictures (posted above) display what I believe to be the after effects of a show on a musician. The comedown from the high that adoring fans produce is portrayed as a tragic and depressing scene. From the broken records on the floor to the empty bottle of alcohol, this is a portrait of quintessential rock and roll. The portrait below that consists of a beautifully set up drum kit, aching to be brought to life by powerfully rhythmic beats. It looks almost angelic.
It's not until the audience's participation is involved in the work that the pieces come to life. There is nothing depressing about the scene's involving crowd surfing and mosh pits, the work is alive and living in the moment that it captures and portrays. I think that the collection as a whole would have been more interesting if it applied more of the human element of rock and roll to the work. Depressing drug addicts and half drunken bottles of booze has been done over and over again. But there is something to be said about catching and depicting a moment. No matter how many times the same scene has been depicted it is always different because the person depicting the scene was enjoying their own individual experience and sharing it with the world. There is something vulnerable in the moment, making it personal, real and easy to relate to.

~ Ericka Gómez