Stapled to the
Soul: Jerry Jofen, Tomas Lanigan-Schmidt
Pavel Zoubok Gallery
533 W 23 Street
New York NY 10011
212 675 7490
May 19 to June 19,
2004
by
JAMES KALM
 |
 |
Jerry Jofen Untitled #106 1965
further details to follow; images courtesy Pavel Zoubok Gallery,
New York |
Tomas Lanigan-Schmidt
Adoptive Father of Another's Child 2004,
mixed media, 16 x 13 inches
|
Staple: a U-shaped
metal bar or piece of wire with often bendable pointed ends for driving
into and holding papers together, etc. Though having never met, both
Jofen and Lanigan-Schmidt have artistic temperaments that seem "driven
into paper," the implied action requiring a brusque force, focused
and piercing. The irony of "holding together" is echoed in
their two lives and shared artistic practices of combining disparate
elements, to somehow make compositions that have the ability of lodging
themselves into one's memory more effectively through their discordance
than through their harmony.
Jerry Jofen, probably
better known for his work in New York's underground film scene of the
early sixties, was none the less a gifted collagist. The earliest works
on display owe a debt to Abstract Expressionism but retain a structure
grounded in the cubistic grid. In "Untitled #106," (1965)
a small rugged study in black and white, a hard scrabbled pop influence
appears. Though giving a tip of the hat to Kurt Schwitters, this work
elicits authentic Pop rather than the affected version currently in
mode. Jofen uses mod-style poka dots, line patterns, and blocks of waxy
blacks from shopping bags, as well as a plastic cord, perhaps a bag
handle, to staple together an elegant theme. I have to admire anyone
who takes stationary supplies and either through boredom or necessity
subverts them into materials for artistic production. For both Jofen
and Lanigan-Schmidt the staple activates their designs with its pragmatic
physicality and rhythmic structural presence. Klaus Kertess wrote in
1997 that "the glistening staples are physical embodiments of light",
yet in "Untitled # 463," (1971) many of the staples have rusted
and fallen off, leaving only oxidation stains behind. These stains seem
to enhance the subtle tonalities of the reds and yellows and, in the
foil, cobalt blue of Jofen's palette. Ironically over time the bonds
of the soft papers remain, but the hard metal of the fasteners does
not.
Tomas Lanigan-Schmidt's
work confronts us with an intriguing knot of contradictions. In the
late seventies he was seen as a "hot" eccentric; pundits tried
variously to incorporate him into the "Pattern Decoration",
"Bad Painting" and "Kitsch" movements. Thought not
fitting into any convenient historical pigeon-hole, Lanigan-Schmidt
and his glittering trove of garish Disco trash and tinsel influenced
generations of emerging artists, giving them permission to transgress
the limitations of traditional art materials. This impetus encouraged
a development of a new sense of color and surface.
A partial list of
the stuff used in the work includes: tin-foil, cellophane, disco tape,
wrapping paper, candy wrappers, glitter, pipe cleaners, embossed foil
doilies, velvet, puffy sparkle paper, Christmas decorations, stick on
stars, ribbons of various colors and fabrics, reflector tape, reproductions
of classic art works, and black and white snapshots (many of gregarious
beach scenes). This may not sound like the most promising ingredients
with which to begin weaving a profound expression, but there's an unusual,
almost spiritual or alchemical transformation that happens in the hands
of Lanigan-Schmidt as he begins to twist, stick, and staple the objects
together. Silver foil is tinted with yellow marker to simulate gold.
A tuft of red velvet takes on an orange cast when covered with yellow
cellophane. Byzantine icons are evoked, metallic foils replace the gold
and silver, plastic covered sections emulate the gloss and color depth
of enamel. This is a Blakean postmodern spirituality that sees God in
sparkling nuggets from Canal Street plastics stores.
Lanigan-Schmidt
seems to deconstruct the traditional confines between picture and frame
in a series of three abstract panels. The geometric forms echo and parody
the framing rectangle, but with the glittering materiality encroaching
on the composition, the precedence of accepted boundaries are blurred.
Though Lanigan-Schmidt has adopted the hierarchical iconic compositions
of medieval sacred art, clues to his optical sensuality and humor can
be seen in the tiny dresses (complete with miniature wire hangers) and
the Orientally inspired "lacquered" trays on display. This
mix of the secular and the spiritual reveals Lanigan-Schmidt's refusal
to be seen a merely a naïf, a pseudo religious funky monk, a cardinal
of Kitsch. Rather, I believe he wishes to pursue a type of optical extravagance
wherever it may be found. Art is not religion, thank God, though deep
spiritual content may be found in the works of both Jofen and Lanigan-Schmidt.
Their belief that they can see the "light" in the humble refuse
of our culture, that they can reveal it to the rest of us speaks somehow
to their faith in redemption.
James Kalm is a painter who lives and works in Brooklyn
