Dan's Papers - August 10, 2007 - SPRINGS INVITATIONAL AT ASHAWAG HALL

Former East Hampton Star art critic, Rose Slivka, never missed writing about the annual Springs Invitational exhibit. If truth be told, it was probably her favorite venue; she would never cease to laud the famous artists who had contributed their work through the years.

Every time there's a Springs Invitational, this critic thinks of Rose and how much she is missed. Some of those famous artists are also missed. However, the following comments are not about traditions: critics and artists who have passed away. Nor is it about the art, per se, in the current show. Rather, it's about another creative endeavor, namely the art of hanging such a large and challenging group of works.

Curator Arlene Bujese has done a fine job positioning the diverse pieces ( which, because of her experience and expertise, she did in a relatively short time ). The point however, is not about the logistics of hanging, but about the way arrangements signify meaning ( or semiotics, to use a precise academic term ). These interpretations may derive from a critic's or spectator's own perceptions or from the curator's. Obviously, such meanings may be the same or different. No doubt Ms. Bujese's arrangement of many pieces concerns juxtaposing formal aesthetic properties, such as shapes, directions, colors, movement and style. A good case in point is Christa Maiwald's vertical realistic imagery of hands on a flower pot, positioned above Elizabeth Sloan Tyler's abstract horizontal landscape. The colors are also juxtaposed: Maiwald's reds and Sloan's oranges. Another vertical / horizontal placement is Marie Rosso's "Man Alone" and John Picker's "Hopeful Dawn," respectively. Shapes and movement are specifically differentiated in the positioning of Eunice Golden's snake-like form moving on the diagnal, hanging above Berenice D'Vorzon's vertical, falling shapes. More subtle, perhaps, than formal qualities are small details that comprise a work's subject matter. Consider, for example, Ralph Carpentier's "blender-like" object with vertical numbers hung above Eric Ernst's abstract configuration, complete with a clock ( where the spectator imagines the numbers although there are none present ). Such a process is called "closure" when we "fill in" details / experiences that do not exist.

Differences in media and style are also juxtaposed: Calvin Albert's subtle charcoal drawing of a female image hangs above Ann Chwatsky's iris print featuring two Asian, well-defined female figures. Then there's Denise Regan's "Sunrise Reflections," a long-shot image of the water, positioned above Ruby Jackson's "High Tide," with a close-up view of the water's swirling shapes.

Finally, there's a pair of works that we must interpret from a contextual approach, where meaning doesn't derive from formalaesthetics but from ( in this case ) social class / gender. It's Walter Schwab's photograph of a fractured doll, "Broken Dreams," put alongside Audrey Flack's American Indian girl, "Goddess of Plenty." Not only is Mr. Schwab's image a bit surreal, like Hans Bellmer's dolls, but it's heartbreaking as well. Conversely, Ms. Flack's figure is full of hope and adoration. We just hope that the American Indian girl doesn't end up like the broken doll.

The point is thus: these two works would not be nearly as potent and poignant as they are now if they had not been hung alongside each other.