Content provided in partnership with

Candice Breitz at Sonnabend

Art in America, Dec, 2005 by Gregory Volk

Coincidentally enough, two of the best works at the last Venice Biennale were by South African video artists, William Kentridge and Candice Breitz. Breitz's recent exhibition at Sonnabend featured the New York debut of her two-part video installation Mother + Father (2005), which justifiably garnered an enthusiastic response in Venice. It is an enthralling work. In one room, six distressed mothers were seen on plasma screens; six troubled fathers were likewise shown in an adjacent room. The twist here is that all of these parents in extremis were culled from Hollywood blockbusters. Breitz took short clips, some a few seconds long and some just a split second, from several recognizable films dealing with parental mayhem, like Kramer vs. Kramer, Mommie Dearest, and Postcards From the Edge. Because of Breitz's expert editing and the fact that everything occurs against a neutral backdrop, iconic figures from the big screen seem to have been extracted from their original movies to be placed in some frantic, herky-jerky, endlessly shifting group discussion having to do with the upheavals and anxieties of parenthood.

Most Popular Articles in Arts: Art since 1900: Modernism, Antimodernism, Postmodernism; Free-standing cardboard sculpture; What makes a successful business person? Business people who are tops in ...; Take advantage of local advertising: TV, newspaper or magazines? If your ...; Tino Sehgal at the ICA; More »

Self-doubt, self-loathing, palpable anger and occasional hopefulness course through the mothers. Much the same happens with the fathers, along with shrill declarations of their own validity as parents. As hard-hitting as all of this sounds--collective portraits of amok mothers and out-of-control dads--it's also hilarious, with Breitz sampling and reconfiguring Hollywood icons to form her own raucous pastiche consisting of nothing but crises, accompanied by tears, furious queries and tense answers, and fleeting facial expressions that, when repeated over and over, seem like signs of psychological derangement. Throughout, larger-than-life American movie stars get their comeuppance; Breitz manipulates the manipulators, and just about everyone else in the world who goes to the movies. Still, as savvy as Breitz is, and as technically brilliant, what takes the work to another level are the intimations that she might also be dealing with raw personal matters, perhaps a wish for and fear of motherhood, perhaps memories of family conflicts. This ultra-mediated work is humanly explorative and surprisingly touching.

The exhibition also featured two excellent new multichannel videos involving a novel exploration of the relationship between pop-culture stars and their anonymous fans. For King (A Portrait of Michael Jackson), 2005, Breitz located 16 German fans of Jackson and invited them to individually record a cappella versions of his 1982 album Thriller in a professional recording studio in Berlin. Displayed in a row at the gallery, these 16 singing-and-dancing enthusiasts form a fascinating choir. Some (always the men) have Jackson's shoulder-shifting, hand-flashing, crotch-clutching moves down cold. Others, notably a belly dancer and a pensive woman in a pink blouse who barely moves, are completely surprising. For Queen (A Portrait of Madonna), 2005, displayed as a grid, Breitz invited 30 Italian fans of Madonna to separately record the 1990 Immaculate Collection in a Milan studio, which is interesting: choosing Madonna in the land of the Madonna. In both works, as the singing swells and subsides, comes together in chance harmonies and breaks apart, and as non-choreographed dance moves are performed, one is riveted by these impassioned amateurs. They've got their own individuality, creativity, flamboyance, and they're basically wonderful. Breitz's interventions in stardom and fandom were a high point in the new exhibition season.

Candice Breitz at Sonnabend

Art in America, Dec, 2005 by Gregory Volk

Find Research Guides for:

Find Featured Titles for: Business

Most Popular Articles in Arts

Most Popular Publications in Arts