POLITE’S PRINTS:
WORLDS IN WHICH TO GET LOST
Flatbed Press Gallery through April 9
Ahh… a solo exhibition. An all-too-rare chance for an artist to flex her
muscles and for us to see an encompassing collection of work by a singular
artist. In Austin, where the trend is toward group exhibitions, it’s refreshing
to find a show solely devoted to one (local!) artist.
And Arlene Polite is an artist whose work is rarely displayed, in fact.
I’ve seen fragments of Polite’s work around town — on a T-shirt for the
Clarksville Jazz Festival; as part of Coronado Studio’s serigraph project —
but this is the first assemblage of her work I’ve discovered, and what a
marvelous discovery it is. Polite has spent 15 years perfecting the art of
woodcut printmaking, and it shows. Her intricately detailed works depict scenes
from the everyday — including many of children, such as Play, which shows a
group of kids beaming with delight as they monkey around in some trees — and
the exotic, as in Village in Thai Highlands, which presents a calm, quiet day
in the life of a flute-playing villager. All the pieces — some
black-and-white, some hand-colored — are infused with the innumerable etched
lines that lend woodcuts their vibrating energy, an aspect which fills the
small gallery with motion and life.
Most of Polite’s works convey such a calmness and beauty that you get
the feeling she’s trying to make little worlds in which to get lost. Her
gardens full of flowers, kitchens full of bustling cooks, and children full of
vigor and life all focus on simple pleasures, but with such a sense of euphoria
that they remind you to take note of these sweet things. — Cari Marshall
WHY WE HAVE A BODY: WORDS OUT OF TIME
Hyde Park Theatre through April 5
 Lana Dietrich in Why We Have a Body |
sometimes sad, but always the words are mired in the time in which they were
assembled. All of the flights of a production’s theatrical fancy are based on
the words, and sometimes this is good, sometimes not. The words give those
involved in the production a place to hang their art, whether that art is a
well-crafted performance or a well-placed light.
Claire Chafee’s script Why We Have A Body, produced by Frontera@Hyde
Park Theatre, provides a crisp place for Christina J. Moore to hang her
direction. The words clip right along as they tell us the story of a woman, her
two daughters, and a lover of one daughter. Austin stage veteran Lana Dieterich
illuminates the questing mother, Eleanor, while Paula Rester brings a dollop of
snappy humor to Mary, one of Eleanor’s daughters and a gun-toting bad girl with
a thing for convenience stores. Mary’s sister Lili, a private detective who
wants someone to search for her clues, is skittishly played by Catherine
Uldrich, and her lover, the confused Renee, is brought to life by Jody
Gehrman.
For the most part, the technical elements of the show also work well with the
words. C. J. Swinburn’s lighting design and Andrea Lauer’s props and costume
design provide luscious insight into the characters that these talented actors
portray. The set, however, doesn’t quite function as a complete unit, and this
incohesion leads to clunky scene changes and odd sight-lines.
Given all this, it would appear that Chafee’s words are, for the most part,
well served. Why, then, does something feel unsettled and off-putting in this
production by a company that is known for its audience-engaging work?
It may be that Chafee’s underlying message is simply too mired in the times
which created it. These words, while witty and engaging, simply don’t describe
the way we live anymore. Or it may be that I, as an audience member, am
unwilling to lay blame where Chafee wants me to and am left in the cold because
I, as a woman, have never felt compelled to hold up a Quicky Mart, sleep with
another woman, or wander about the world, looking for myself. Perhaps these
words were simply targeted at a specific niche to which I never have or will
belong.
Which is too bad, considering how much in this production really makes
Chafee’s words sing. — Adrienne Martini
NEW WORK@LYONS MATRIX:
WISE OWLS & WHIMSICAL SAVIORS
Lyons Matrix Gallery through March
This impressive collection features new works by Lyons Matrix’s stable of
artists, plus some pieces by a newcomer to the gallery, sculptor Ginger Geyer.
Geyer’s work has a distinctive and refreshing kitschiness — a tongue-in-cheek
quality — that makes them stand out from the rest of the show.
Geyer’s All Around the Carpenter’s Shop is a biblical jack-in-the-box
— a “Jesus-in-the-box,” if you will. The piece, made from glazed porcelain
with gold and platinum, features the pop-up puppet as a multi-faced Jesus. You
can turn the puppet’s head according to the kind of omniscience you’re in the
mood for; there’s the kind, loving Jesus, the condemning, wrathful Jesus, and
the pained, sorrowful Jesus. Around the base of the box are depictions of
biblical scenes, and the entire structure is painted in bright colors that lend
the piece a playful look. It’s like a quickie pop-up religion for your devout
inner child.
The show also features — at last — a new work by Melissa Miller, who
continues her journey into the realm of watercolors. This piece, Night
Phenomenon, presents an adult owl sitting cock-headed next to a baby owl on
a branch. Whereas Miller often infuses her animal subjects with human
characteristics, the creatures featured here appear as simply wide-eyed owls.
But the birds have a wisdom and soulfulness in their eyes, as though Miller was
trying to eschew any overt characterizations and let the animals’ wisdom come
out from the inside.
Susan Plum’s Angel Vessel is a remarkably beautiful piece; a delicate,
glimmering sculpture of woven lampworked glass, the piece looks like the shed
cocoon of an angel. New works by other well-known Austin artists are also on
display: a new lithograph by Fidencio Dur�n, a sprawling watercolor
series by Richard Thompson, another of Bob “Daddy-O” Wade’s painted
photographs. It would be nice to see an entire collection by each of these
artists, but we must make do with these delightful morsels. — Cari
Marshall
BESTIARY: UNTAMED PRINTS
Dougherty Arts Center Gallery through March 25
If you saw “Fresh Ink” at the Austin Museum of Art Downtown and want more —
or maybe fewer — prints to look at, visit the Dougherty Arts Center,
where Women Printmakers of Austin is presenting its show “Bestiary.” The
gallery is filled with mono-prints, lithographs, intaglios, and woodblocks that
depict animals (and a chair and a couple of semi-abstract pictures thrown in
for good measure).
Unlike the larger print show, this one consists for the most part of
small-scale works more typical of the medium. The artists provide an
information sheet which explains the “fine art print” (as does AMOA) and a very
reasonable price list for the junior collector.
Many of the images are appealing — we’re talking animals here — though some
slip into cute, not adding much to the zillion zoological drawings that have
accumulated since the Lascaux Caves. I was impressed with Maggie Crisp’s
monoprints on canvas and Margaret Simpson’s frogs, all drawn with a sure hand
and a delicate balance of black, white, and gray. Katharine Brimberry’s
Birthday Pony proved a lovely little surprise, as did Sylvia Bett’s homage to
Chagall, a softly colored flying fish with a face called All Decked Out….
I was particularly intrigued by an inanimate double-handled black vase set
against a fiery background. To the unsigned (the work wasn’t labeled!) and
unsung colorist — good work!
— Rebecca S. Cohen
This article appears in March 21 • 1997 and March 21 • 1997 (Cover).