Local look: chico
MUSINGS ON THE CHICO ART SCENE
As Butte County slowly followed the lockdown patterns of more urban areas, I was able to sneak one last peak at art in person. I am so glad I was able to catch “Jennifer Brommer: Selections from Memphis and The Weschlers” at 1078 Gallery before they had to close.
Brommer is a photographer working in Portland, and Memphis and The Weschlers are two larger series of her work. Immediately, one is immersed into richly, patterned and highly saturated atmospheres. I was captivated by the documented excess in Memphis. Status is overtly stressed in the lavishness of the interiors. Exotic carpets, sumptuous drapery, floral duvets, zebra-skin rugs, create a spatial chaos and over-stimulation. Always sat against expanses of pastel or juxtaposed with, yes, more patterns, suggests the same ostentatious display of Rococo portraits. Poised just so, the figures seem frozen, overconfident, and yet, from another time…antiquated, in a beautiful sort of way. Brommer’s childhood was spent split between NY and Memphis, between her mother and grandmother, respectively. A disdain for social climbing, status, racial discrimination, is communicated through the unusual Lynchian world she has created within these photographs. The Weschlers is a more fantastical series. Brommer embodies her imagined Jewish immigrant ancestors from the 19th century. One cannot ignore the Cindy Sherman-like chameleonic transformations. Brommer’s performance is much more personal though, a deep dive into an imagined past. Captured in vivid colors set off by verdant surroundings, I forget that I am looking at the photographer in a staged image. Instead, The Weschlers are faintly anthropological in nature, illustrating quintessential archetypes. Not coming from an impersonal, theoretical place like Sherman’s 70’s film stills of generic female characters, Brommer’s images still function in a similar way. We imagine stories, characteristics, a past, present and future for each Weschler image. As we pause and go virtual for the moment, you can find many art resources online. If you missed it, you can see these stunning selections and more on Brommer’s website: https://www.jenniferbrommer.com/. Where I am delighted that art institutions are innovating to bring art to the home during these extraordinary circumstances, I hope we remember the value of seeing art in person. There will be a time when we can frequent galleries, centers, cafes, and museums once more, and I hope we will do so in droves. As many businesses suffer due to closure, so do our non-profit organizations, many of which run on the hard work of volunteers and on shoestring budgets. If you are in the place to do so, consider helping 1078 Gallery during these times: https://www.1078gallery.org/1078-rent-club.html. In a world filled with anxiousness it was nice to be immersed in another world, if only for a moment.
0 Comments
|
AuthorSara Smallhouse is tenure-track faculty in Art History at Butte College, teaches every once in a while at CSU, Chico, and is on the Board of Directors of monca (Museum of Northern California Art). She likes to walk around and look at things with her family, friends, or solo. Archives
February 2022
Categories |