I am actually going to separate my Corcoran visit into 2 essays but bear in mind: tomorrow (and every Thursday) Corcoran is open late and is on a pay-what-you-can-basis.
Now, Corcoran’s main strenghts, exhibits wise (and some may argue this, but I stand by my point) tend to lie in the fields of photography and digital art. And Jeremy Blake’s Wild Choir: Cinematic Portraits just confirms that theory.
Even though there are only 2 completed works (Reading Ossie Clark and Sodium Fox) and 1 work in progress (Glitterbest) it is a dazzling display of a young talent that it is a shame we will not see more of.
For those unfamiliar with the artist’s back story : Jeremy Blake was born in 1971 and raised in DC (first Takoma Park then Mount Pleasant), then trained as a painter at Art institute of Chicago and shot to pretty outstanding national recognition in his 20s with inclusions in three Whitney Biennales and which reached its popularity pinnacle when he produced the animation sequences in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Punch Drunk Love” (which, I feel, is one of more underestimated movies of the last decade) and Beck’s “Around the Bend” video:
And then he killed himself. By drowning. Last year. At the age of 35. His companion of more than a decade at the time, Theresa Duncan, 40, a writer, filmmaker and former video-game designer, had committed suicide a week earlier and Blake found her body in their apartment, according friends of the couple. The police said that a note found on the beach with his belongings made reference to Theresa’s death.
It is easy to let this story almost overshadow Blake’s actual work, for it has all the makings of a legend, but his art stands strong on its own. It is a shimmering display of what multi-media art should be: combining photography, video and very obviously utilizing his painterly training, he tackles, in this case: Portraiture. Ossie Clark, David Berman (of Silver Jews) and Malcolm McLaren (who is the subject of the unfinished film) all get distilled through his lens and get “honored through an innovative new form that is its own contribution to the history of art”.
Not to mention that it is primo eye candy. So, you know - I recommend it.
want more art in your life? (who doesn’t?) check out our extensive (and ever expanding) exhibit coverage this week:
katharine hepburn at National Portrait Gallery
with mucho mas to come.
Oh, right! I read about this. Very tragic love story. Jeeez. I didn’t know he was from D.C. That was very sad indeed. Thanks for the suggestions, Svetlana. I want to see this exhibit.
November 7, 2007 at 4:51 pmAlso, I remember reading that his partner went mad because they were both artists and she loved him deeply but his career overshadowed hers. That basically turned her very paranoid and then suicidal. And then he couldn’t live without her and killed himself. Cautionary tale…
Sad…
i saw this exhibit last week. it was impressive but it was hard to hear “reading ossie clark” over the din of the lobby.
November 8, 2007 at 5:06 pmYES!
forgot to mention that.
also- I HATE GOING TO MUSEUMS on packed occasions (ie weekends, thursdays at the Corcoran) because it is too loud and too crowded.
However, one does not really have a choice, if one works.
And one works.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Punch Drunk Love” (which, I feel, is one of more underestimated movies of the last decade)
I was just saying this the other day after my second viewing.
November 7, 2007 at 4:20 pm