America America 2000 triptych, 80” x 90” each panel
September 10 – October 15, 2011
Opening:Saturday, September 10, 2-6pm
New New Museum
123 Bellwoods Ave (lane back),
(six streets W of Bathurst, N of Queen
Toronto, ON, M6J 2P6
Open every Saturday 2-4pm, other times by appointment.
For information or appointments call Lausberg Contemporary
T: 416-516-4440
toronto@galerie-lausberg.com
The art in this exhibition does not belong to the category of “political art”; it comes from the artists’ reaction to a tragic event in world affairs. Similarly, when Drapell painted his remembrance of the Kristallnacht (his 22 feet wide canvas “Remember and Live” 1988, now in the National Gallery, Prague) his aim was to elevate the work into the realm of something resembling the tragedies of Shakespeare: an artistic experience that does not overwhelm us with tragic gestures, but transcends the horrors through accomplished form. In this installation the familiar diptych is shown in a new and surprising orientation.
The main room installation also includes the triptych “America, America”. The title deliberately recalls Kazan’s film of 1963, the story of millions of immigrants longing for America’s freedom. In this triptych we may see the image of wings, of flight, and perhaps also the image of conception, the beginning of new life. We can also discern a lament for the disappearing ideal: the more complex reality of America.