Objects are placeholders for thoughts (April 20 2013)
Barbara Bloom the 61 year old American Sculptural artist who studied with John Baldessari at the California Institute of the Arts and is often associated with the postmodern “Pictures Generation” that includes Cindy Sherman, Louise Lawler, Richard Prince and Barbara Kruger, has been profiled by Karen Roseberg in a New York Times article titled ‘She Makes Objects Speak, and They Won’t Stop Arguing’. Roseberg states “…“As it were … So to speak: A Museum Collection in Dialogue With Barbara Bloom,” at the Jewish Museum. Ms. Bloom, invited to organize a show from elements of the museum’s collection, has turned to the Talmud for inspiration. Her exhibition is modeled on its heavily annotated pages, which surround ancient texts with rabbinical commentaries added over centuries. Weaving together real and fictional narratives, historical and literary sources, Ms. Bloom creates new and often ambiguous contexts for ceremonial and decorative objects like Torah pointers, Kiddush cups and spice containers. Somehow she manages to quote Nietzsche, Freud, Leonard Cohen, Joan Didion, the Bible and various Wikipedia entries, all without losing her own probing, skeptical voice. “The objects are placeholders for thoughts, and when they are situated in proximity to one another, meanings can reverberate and ricochet off of each other,” Ms. Bloom writes in a preamble to the show. …she is especially attuned to these vibrations between objects, drawing them out and spinning them into debates that are as least as fascinating as the objects themselves. … she is an accomplished rescuer of forgotten objects, known for reviving old paintings, vintage photographs and the odd flea-market find with clever and critical installations. But even if her methods are old hat to the art world, they’re sure to have an impact on a wider audience. And they are certainly a departure for the Jewish Museum, which is just starting to rethink its permanent-collection strategy under its director, Claudia Gould.”
Inspired by Karen Roseberg, New York Times ow.ly/jAsaX Image source Linda Yablonsky ow.ly/jAsao
