On
the Wall: Wallpaper and Tableau
Fabric Workshop
and Museum, Philadelphia
May 9 to September 13, 2003
by
James Rosenthal
Left to Right: Gray Bar Hotel, 2003 by Nicole Eisenman, nobnest
zed, 2002 by Paul Noble,
Lotus Room, 2003 by Virgil Marti, and Inflammatory Essays,
1979-82 by Jenny Holzer
Photo by Will Brown
Victorian wallpaper was used as a status symbol along with other tasteful
furnishings by the burgeoning bourgeoisie of the 19th century. Densely
packed and richly colored, its heyday coincided with the apex of mechanical
reproduction. Oddly enough, this "machine-made" quality is
what English designers like William Morris were reacting against when
they introduced a handcrafted process and designs that mimicked the
gothic. Their work continues to form our view of "classic"
decorative wallpaper. In the early 20th century, wallpaper design followed
the arts loosely through many styles: art deco, modern-abstract and
mock colonial; but by the mid century it had evolved into a debased
variation created for suburban houses. These were cheaply made, inoffensive
and made little statement apart from matching the avocado or beige color
scheme. Now, after decades of white and off-white walls, we have begun
to decorate again with Pottery Barn leading the way, selling us an ersatz
"Arts and Crafts" movement. Though today's domestic interiors
have the emphasis on technology (have we begun to think of the "house"
itself as an "appliance?), and are littered with computer gear,
we want a little coziness,albeit in a post-modern sort of way. It is
interesting, then, to see how contemporary artists deal with this quaint
notion of wallpaper.
The exhibition, On the Wall:
Wallpaper and Tableau, at the Fabric Museum and Workshop In Philadelphia,
updates our view of wallpaper in a major way. Including 33 artists and
numerous historical pieces, the exhibition showcases excellent examples
of contemporary art. (Of contemporary art or contemporary wallpaper?
Or do you mean excellent examples of the ideas inherent in contemporary
art.?) This is not an easy task since contemporary art envelops so many
concerns normally not confined to walls. The usual axioms of race, gender
and politics are to be expected, but when the artists grab onto some
aspect of decoration and twist it -this is where the show really does
make a statement about the relationship of contemporary art (wallpaper?)to
its wallpaper (Victorian?) predecessor. This double intention gives
the show an inherent contradiction that could have been emphasized;
it deals with issues of art versus decoration by default while simultaneously
dealing with artists' usual concerns. Having said this, the show becomes
more of a showcase for these concerns rather than attempting to make
any larger cohesive statement about our wider relationship to the decorative
arts.
Andy Warhol succeeded in using this medium and set a well-known precedent
with his Cow Wallpaper from 1966. He was the first to make the connection
between art and domestic (commercial?) products, and artists have been
following his lead ever since. Virgil Marti's Lotus Room nods to Warhol
and forms the centerpiece of the show. This is a mixture of homage to
a "tasteless" past and a formal exercise in reflective qualities
of Mylar and stick-on flowers. This is a wonderful work, though I was
disappointed in not finding a sofa, a large palm and a stereo playing
Abba to complete the installation. His day-glow, black-lit Bully Wallpaper,
which literally depicts people (bullies?) from his high school yearbook,
does not have this contextual problem. Installed cleverly in the men's
room, it evokes the seventies so strongly it is scary. This is where
the mix of materials and metaphors is most effective, a successful amalgam
of style as (and?) content. Other witty works by artists Renee Green
and Rodney Graham update the past effectively though they both needed
to be more enclosed. These are pieces that could easily be pasted up
in work places and homes. (explain what these look like) Notables like
John Baldessari and Robert Gober were marginalized in glass cases, and
Jenny Holzer's Inflammatory Essays seem out of place perhaps because
there is no nod to decoration (explain what they do have if not a nod
to decoration.). This is where the contemporary "historical"
aspects of the show didn't work so well. Adam Cvijanovic's hand painted
removable mural wallpapers show a clever technical development on traditional
wallpaper but his suburban scene doesn't connect much with the method.
(this last sentence should be moved up in sequence; the "doesn't
work so well" sentence should be your last to sum up the general
feel of the exhibition.)
Virgil Marti Lotus Room 2003
photo Aaron Igler
Organized by Judith Tannenbaum, Curator of Contemporary Art at the RISD
Museum, the show began as a smaller version (on a smaller scale?) with
a slightly different title: On the Wall, Wallpaper by Contemporary Artists.
It has now been expanded by Marion Stroud, Director of the Fabric Workshop
and Museum, and includes more artists and tableau. This ambitious expansion
perhaps included too many possibilities to explore. Curator Tannenbaum's
assertion concludes that artists subvert the everyday simply by adding
content in the form of politics or sexual imagery to the so-called "background,"
but this is simplistic. Although many works in the show do this, there
is not enough tableau to contrast it nor enough "real" rooms
to emphasize the inherent ironies. It is certainly the use-value of
these decorative objects that is most interesting (regardless of the
subject), but that can only truly be gauged outside the museum context.
The wallpapers that worked best were the ones that indeed subverted
our idea of decoration but they were, oddly enough, the prettiest to
look at in the conventional sense. Nicole Eisenman's amusing Dr Suess-like
illustrations of life in a women's prison are an effective example.
That is the twist. Omitting that twist made the Jenny Holzer work fall
"flat" and made the Bullies in the bathroom effectively creepy.
Apparently film director Gus Van Zandt (My Own Private Idaho) has wallpapered
his office with Virgil Marti's "Bullies." Now, that I'd like
to see.
