Art On The Bathroom Walls

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by felicia smuts | Dec 11, 2007 9:53 am

(1) Comment | Commenting has been closed | E-mail the Author

Posted to: Arts

Artspace%20001.jpg After all the excitement and frenzy of Open Studios, Artspace has settled down with an appealing, if disjointed, array of exhibits. The intricate patterns and vibrant colors of Rachel Hellerch’s “Emerald Ethereal” greet visitors as they come through the lounge, offering a pop-oriental escape from the weary grays and browns of New Haven’s streets. The various artists of the Juror’s Choice exhibit run the gauntlet of contemporary art in styles and materials.

Rashmi Talpade creates dense, layered photomontages combining dense, congested images of Bombay and America with the dedication and adoration of someone who has truly lived within each world.

The transparent tape used to create Johanna Bresnick’s scenes from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina transform images burned into our heads by the nightly news to a commentary on the fragility of urban infrastructure. Even some of our favorite Tom Cruise movies are on display, the omission of Cruise being the artistic alteration to contemplate. Personally, after the Tom Cruise overload of the past year, his absence is welcome.

Yet with all the dizzying multitudes of paintings, multimedia installations, photographs, sculptures, and other provocative pieces hanging on the walls and windows of Artspace, it’s what’s going on in the bathroom that’s truly innovative.

The latest installation in the ongoing “John/Jane Project” is “Delicates” by Melanie Carr. Each of the two large bathrooms has been overtaken with Carr’s “bumps” made of colorful fabric swatches formed in half circles of various sizes arranged in a sprawling V, or rounded metal screening scattered in small groupings about the walls and floors. The metal bumps have a playful ethereal quality, the hard surface of the metal wiring rendered gauzy and airy by Carr’s skillful shaping. The shockingly bright pastel green lightning bolts of paint slash across the bathroom surfaces. The placement of the “bumps” brings to mind the weightless bubbles of childhood which provided hours of fascination.

Carr’s installations too provide a lingering allure that unexpectedly seizes the imagination and resonates long after leaving. While directly confronting the viewer with art in the most intimate of spaces, the installation remains unobtrusive and effortlessly bridges the gap between “art” and functional space. “Bumps” does not depend on the shock value or obtrusive masses of past avant-garde installations to capture the viewer’s attention. The appeal of Carr’s pieces is similar to the spirit she wishes to invoke, the slightest glimpse of lacey lingerie peaking out under a garment being far more intriguing and seductive than a full on display. It is this subtle approach that allows her pieces to remain on the mind, quietly influencing the way we perceive gender roles and the objects and materials we deem “gender specific.”

The viewer automatically perceives which room is intended as the “women’s room” and which the “men’s,” but why? Is it because one room is splashed with a Jazzercise hue of pink, the fabric bumps and V shape lending themselves to images of forbidden female parts? Is it because the room’s counterpart offers a more muted color scheme and scattered shapeless groupings, more intone with a man’s sensibility?

Each room started out identically white and sterile with the same basic bathroom components. Yet by imbibing them with gender specific imagery and shades Carr has created a running commentary on the separation of gender in our society which is based largely on superficial surface appearance. This dialogue becomes even more captivating when one notices the striking similarities of her fabric bumps to the head scarves worn by women in the Islamic world. Or the caged quality of the metal wiring, creating perfect bubbles of containment. Carr has states that she intended for her ‘bumps,’ to “bring many things to mind.” The ever evolving discourse of the piece evokes everything from the carefree feelings of childhood and whimsy, to the dangerous and troubling gender issues facing the modern world. Dirt and wear from the next few months will continue to add another dimension, extending on the intricate layers of meaning and material in the most remarkable bathrooms in town.

Comment

posted by: Aprill on December 29, 2007 1:10pm

This art is truly amazing. I would never think to put such things in a bathroom, but how do you clean it?

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