Dan's Papers - March 7, 2008 - Art Commentary With Marion Wolberg Weiss

Weather-wise, March brings the lion and the lamb. March is also Women's Month. A search of local exhibits reveals diverse, provocative female images in settings which are just as varied.

"Gallery Favorites" at Sag Harbor's Tulla Booth Gallery features photographs by Burt Glinn. What's particularly relevant, however, is the iconic imagery of female celebrities that the works present. The famous subject is the important aesthetic element here, not how the photographer perceives the subject as in cases like Irving Penn or Annie Leibovitz.

Simply put, Glinn often uses his camera to record images from films; the subject is playing a "character" who has not been created by the photographer. Consider Elizabeth Taylor in two scenes from Suddenly, Last Summer. Ms. Taylor is made to look vulnerable, yet still sexy in both shots as a birds-eye-view reinforces the presence of some unseen power from above. Thus Ms. Taylor is perceived as the object of the "male gaze."

This male gaze also dominates a picture of Sophia Loren as multiple images are repeated through a mirror's reflection. The image suggests that a woman has many faces and thus should be viewed with caution.

And then there's the famous photo of Andy Warhol, Chuck Wein and Edie Sedgewick stuffed into a New York sewer, their bodies fragmented and askew. The pose perfectly captures a surreal moment in time that continues to characterize Warhol and his colleagues.

The Uber House, also located in Sag Harbor, provides an unusual environment for its depiction of women. In fact, the mixture of large photographs and objects serves as an installation carrying a potent message regarding the duality of female images: both sexual and nurturing.

Therefore, we see photographs of both sensual nude females and a pregnant woman. However, the works don't stop there in their implications. There's a feeling of disorientation when we consider the exhibit as a whole. For example, one photo shows the fragmentation of body parts; we don't see the faces of the subjects either. Adding to the unreality is the fact that the figures are also painted in blue. Of course, such techniques may be there to give the images an exotic sense as well. Here's a good instance of how interpretations depend on individual perceptions that each viewer brings to the work.

The exhibit at the Tulla Booth Gallery will be on view until April 15. Call 631-725-3100. The show at the Uber House will be there through March. Call 631-725-0909 for details.