Home  GessoHead - Blog Feinberg and Australian Aboriginal Artists at the Katzen
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Feinberg and Australian Aboriginal Artists at the Katzen |
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October 25, 2009
  The Katzen Arts Center at AU has been a whole yummy cornucopia of art this fall, every available nook filled with great stuff. I got there on a Sunday about three o’clock, not realizing that they close at four that day, so I had to speed-walk through a couple of the shows but will be back soon when I can savor. First, Paul Feinberg’s “another Washington”, a retrospective of 40 years of photographing non-political DC, the one we sometimes like to think of as the “real” city.
 this one made me cry  This is the kind of franchise that can easily turn cheesy nostalgic or faux noir but it somehow stays real, perhaps partly because there are no images at all of the photographer and one feels the sincerity of his endeavor, enhanced by the straightforward texts where the subjects are often allowed to speak for themselves. Feinberg follows several themes: friends, decaying commercial sites, burlesque and dive bars. It is the most straight-up kind of full frontal picture-making, no tricks, that succeeds on the strength of its honesty, the honesty of its subjects and a fascination with culture at the cusp of expiration. N. B. Sadly, the Feinberg show closes today. You can buy a reasonably-priced good softback catalog from the Katzen and look for the next opportunity to see the work in person.
  Not to be missed is the visiting Australian Aboriginal Triennial titled “Culture Warriors”. This is a culture under the greatest pressure, but one with a remarkably vibrant art that has managed to take its ancient techniques and obsessions and catapult them into the present. Sponsored by the National Gallery of Australia, the traveling collection contains artists from every region of Australia and many indigenous groups. The work is often bold and dramatic and it sometimes just bowled me over with its power. These artists do not make work that is merely decorative; they are steeped in the narratives of historical adventure and the reality of daily life today. Even the most abstract work contains elements reminiscent of this tradition. Go now and see it, yo
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