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| Artist Martha Wilson tries on a persona in this piece entitled "Male Impersonator (Butch)" from 1974. |
Taped to the front door of the Dal Art Gallery is a hasty, makeshift sign, a message to the effect that Martha Wilson: Staging the Self is for mature audiences only. A five seconds鈥� walk through the exhibit will leave you gawking in front of Jenny Holzer鈥檚 Truisms (1978), which proclaims:
鈥淓ATING TOO MUCH IS CRIMINAL鈥�
The work, once showcased in the Franklin Furnace Gallery, is here divided between a short selection of phrases printed on a wrinkled T-shirt and a longer list of questionable proverbs under glass.
鈥淚LLNESS IS A STATE OF MIND鈥�
鈥淢EN ARE NOT MONOGAMOUS BY NATURE鈥�
鈥淢ORALS ARE FOR LITTLE PEOPLE鈥�
The sign on the door was a smart move; this exhibit definitely isn鈥檛 afraid of courting controversy.
Staging the Self, curated by Peter Dykhuis, features the work of Martha Wilson, who began making her highly political art while studying English at Dal in the early 1970s. English was a good fit: there is a definitely literate feel to Wilson鈥檚 work, much of which communicates in plain text what is only implied by the accompanying images. 鈥淎t one time or another, I have tried them all on for size,鈥� Wilson鈥檚 accompanying text says of the feminine archetypes, (goddess/housewife/earth-mother/lesbian) she models and photographs in A Portfolio of Models, 1974. 鈥淎nd none has fit, all that鈥檚 left to do is be an artist,鈥� she continues puckishly.
Wilson was an artist, with a vengeance, and Staging the Self is a fascinating chronology of 40 years of razor-edged performance art, photography and other explorations of the self.
Virtually all the art catalogued in this exhibit is comparatively recent, and so are the methods of displaying it 鈥� some material is accessed via computer, and a great deal is displayed on video. The spotlighted clips are of DISBAND, the 鈥渁ll-female vaudevillian-punk group鈥� Wilson founded in 1978. Later clips and photographs feature Wilson as Nancy Reagan, Tipper Gore, and Barbara Bush. This section of the exhibit is pithily titled The First (and Second) Ladies, and the satirical narrative voice Wilson assigns to the ladies is iconoclastic and deadpan. 鈥淚 only wanted labelling on records to HELP the record industry market risky material,鈥� clatters a monologue assigned to Tipper Gore in Tipper Gore鈥檚 Advice for the 90s, 1994. Later Gore鈥檚 character states, 鈥淭he social benefit of freedom is that because we have art as an outlet, we won鈥檛 become a burden to society by ending up in a mental institution.鈥�
The social benefit of freedom, and art as an outlet, seems to be of the utmost importance to Wilson 鈥� although not for the same reasons she ascribes to her caricature of Ms. Gore. Wilson is a founding director of the Franklin Furnace Gallery, which supports avant-garde art that 鈥渕ay be vulnerable due to institutional neglect, their ephemeral nature, or politically unpopular content.鈥�
Some of the gallery鈥檚 pieces are showcased (a sort of exhibit-within-an-exhibit) and what is meant by 鈥榩olitically unpopular鈥� is quickly apparent: alongside Holzer鈥檚 Truisms, Shirin Neshat鈥檚 Unveiling: Face to Face (displayed in 1993) explores the politics of women鈥檚 veiling in Islamic countries, and Karen Finley鈥檚 A Woman鈥檚 Life Isn鈥檛 Worth Much (displayed in 1990) is biting social satire in the form of wall daubings. Wilson鈥檚 fondness for mischief and wit is mirrored in the work she has showcased: Dona Ann McAdam鈥檚 Feminists and Porn Stars (1984) photographs a roomful of naked women, standing in rows and smiling as though for a class photo. Each carries a cardboard sign specifying 鈥渇eminist鈥� or 鈥減orn star," just in case you had trouble distinguishing which was which.
The Tribeca-based Franklin Furnace closed its doors in 1997, and now it is maintained only through an archive in Brooklyn and at franklin.furnace.org鈥攎aking the Dal Art Gallery鈥檚 exhibition all the more special and rare. Martha Wilson: Staging the Self is required viewing for those who like their art edgy.
Martha Wilson: Staging the Self continues to May 10 at 色妹妹直播 Art Gallery. Gallery hours are Tuesdays to Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.