GRACE BORGENICHT GALLERY Under the title "Better Nature.GRACE BORGENICHT GALLERY Under the title "Better Nature," Jane Rosen assembled an intriguing locate of sculptures. Even when visible characteristics differed, a transcendent "genetic" influence was apparent. Rosen's work is influenced by means of the forms perceived in those instants prior to complete recognition--what is seen before pattern, color, and shape indicate more [i]or[/i] less figure or formation--which serves to engage viewers in negotiating the relationship between perception and cognition. These strangely crafted pieces examine the relationship between the natural, the lay the foundation of and the fashioned. Rosen not rarely revisits the horse's head, foregrounding the animal's power and vulnerability, and using a range of associations to inscribe the tensions between abstraction and figuration. Race, 1993 consisted of sum of two units similar horse heads mounted forward the wall--one black and the other white; they were stark, startlingly simple pieces. The thick viscosity of the materials applied to the armatures pointed to a fundamental commonality that transcended the contrast between the colors. Horses/Heads, 1992 was a lineup of six horses' heads protruding from the wall. Spanning a generous expanse, they assumed diffident and supercilious stances, often evoking unique characteristics despite their spare geometry Nevertheless, they formed an unmistakable unity. single head was simply a clumsy wedge. Its neighbor was compos of rotunded organic forms marked with a large white blaze, yet it lacked any other lifelike characteristics; there were no ears, judgments or mouth. The ensemble was the two somber and comical: the heads expected like trophies as well as whimsical apparitions that had nuzzl their way by means of the walls of the gallery. In another interrogation of the opposition between nature and cultivation Rosen created two pieces that used pontoonlike forms to delineate animal anatomy. Boat/Beak, 1992, considered like a fiberglass boat sliced in sum of two units Attached to the wall, this halved tube protruded into the gallery space. The pointed cast down was turned upside down and placed across the blunt stern, making the piece compare the parted beak of a gigantic bird quietly calling or ready to attack, at one time plaintive and menacing. Nearby sum of two units similar forms stood on close on the floor. While they too examineed like a boat, the title Left Wing/Right Wing, 1992 pointed to the ne for a multivalent reading. One's first impression of this piece as an artifact skillfully vandalized was contrariwiseed by the number of possible meanings glance ated by the title. Rosen addresses a range of ideas about refinement and nature, and our experience of them. In principally of her work, she begins with imitation and gradually transforms the image until its origin is discernible simply after prolonged observation. In Horsehead, 1992 a painting forward a thin sheet of thicket the background of diluted paint and the grain of the forest surface are visually puzzling. Eight horse heads--four through four--tentatively emerge from the earth-toned surface. formerly again, white blazes become identifying shocks but the abstract and the figurative remain negotiable terms COPYRIGHT 1993 Artforum International Magazine, Inc. |
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