Where did Noah Webster discover the word “genius” I wonder? Numerous proposals to define, link, categorize, characterize genius as some sort of ability, qualification or philosophy muddies it’s meaning. Hmmm. Genie, genius, gentrification, genre. All of these large, complex ideas fitting inside the briefest of words, and sometimes, numbers. Let’s take it one by one.
1. Genius: The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation honored Judy Pfaff with the “genius” award in 2004 recognizing her “exceptional creativity” as an artist. One description reads: a multidisciplinary artist whose work explores how to make painting more three-dimensional while making sculptures more like paintings.”
2.Genre: means “category of artistic composition” whereby the history books get to make distinctions for clarity sake. But I’m confused where Judy would “fit”. (see above or her current SUNY exhibit for explanation.)
3. Gentrification: This is becoming increasingly slippery, because it looks like one of those greater good theories, but Judy Pfaff, for example worked/ lived in SoHo, Tribeca, Greenpoint, until she could no longer afford the inflated rents. But she also notes, “It wasn’t just inflated rents, but Soho, Tribeca, etc. became something else…more commerce, more family oriented, more upscale and secure.” She then bought a building in Willimsburgh with six other artists. which they all, except Judy, sold, - probably a great boon to their personal bank accounts. I can’t remember why she thinks “artists are to blame. really” but we both agreed that development trends in all of these upscale areas of NYC, once treasure troves for artist lofts, are the same – “We (artists) start the ball rolling and it rolls over you.”
4. Genie: I wonder about this word, but Mirriam Webster Dictionary associates geniuses with guardian spirits (I’m not sure who or what summons them). Apparently, these spirits have “exceptional” natural ability. In folklore, the spirits can grant wishes but not once “the ball gets rolling.” (see above) I guess there is a wish deadline.
Judy Pfaff was quite likely as “dumbstruck” as her mom, when she received the phone call telling her that she was awarded the MacArthur Fellowship Genius grant. “I was street tough….survivor…I would do things in spite of the odds.”
What a high honor – to the artist, to the Foundation and to our Society – to be recognized and amply rewarded so that great work can continue. Judy’s commitments, not to ‘success’ in the social or economic sense, but to her art, in a solid, focused and tedious way, places her in a special category. Not that she simply needs to work exceptionally long hours, therefore she is a genius. In fact, the genesis of the word from Latin, ‘attendant spirit present from one’s birth, innate ability or inclination’, which I suppose implies that maybe a “genius” needs to work less hard than ‘the rest of us’ since it’s in her blood. See what I mean about language? About truisms? About Judy Pfaff? An artist who’s work is brilliantly conceived and executed, “I like anonymity” she says recognizing that this award from the MacArthur foundation will “follow (me) for the rest of (my) life” Oh well, on an extremely positive side, not only did her phone ring constantly with opportunities on the other end, and her prints selling, as well, but her eyes brightened over having money “to give away” – better pay for her assistants, she could feed and house them better and send contributions to charities. “MacArthur helped that” she says.
What I encountered at the SUNY New Paltz Dorsky Museum Chandler Gallery was a tour de force. Choreographically, a fluid structure of parts coinciding, but from a distance it feels like a giant wave. Remarkably, I was neither humbled nor diminished by this impact. I just loved it, and I think you will, too. Don’t try to speed read this remarkable Hudson Valley offering. It contains loosely connected passages and associative remnants of trees, insects, birds, geometry, renderings, architectural schematics. She seems to love grinding (formal art) rules into questions – some of the more simplistic ones: why walls, why gloves, why protective masks, why not?
Judy Pfaff personal life is not apparent in her work. At Bard College, where she co-chairs the Art Dept. she comments on her teaching: “It’s not about me” So, what is her art about? I don’t think it’s about me either. No narrative begging attention, no posed people, no interesting (or uninteresting) video images to grab attention, but lots of cryptic and compelling movement or shapes, colors settling in organized patterns suggesting certain animals marching on the paper’s surface, forays into the Hinterlands, and things floating, geographically. The idiosyncrasies - plain talk, plain walk, clear thinking is what I shared with Judy one afternoon. In being herself, Judy Pfaff tosses a rope, which rescues us from the agony of being who we aren’t - lest we be smothered by expectations, protocol and your general good manners written somewhere by someone.
At the close of this writing, I slipped Judy’s latest DVD called Buckets of Rain, into my computer. With the sound off, I watched the diligent movements of torches, air hoses, grinders, saws, Judy and her assistants working talking and arranging . Nothing improvised., really. Nor was it staged. It was intense, bee-like, purposeful and entangled human endeavor. I watched the woman. The artist. The accomplishment of a major installation at the Ameringer Yohe Gallery on 57th Street. The same woman who grew up in England, stole lunches to feed the swans, a true cockney who went to reform school, made her own clothes, learns from people she loves and studied painting with at Yale.
Judy Pfaff, New Prints and Drawings, and Judy Pfaff Selects at the Chandler and North Galleries of the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art is up through April 7th. For information go to: www.newpaltz.edu/museum . Pfaff is a past recipient of NEA and Guggenheim fellowships, represented the U.S. at the Bienal de Sao Paolo in 1998. She is currently a Professor at Bard College, lives in Kingston with a large studio in Tivoli. More information and images of work can be found at Judypfaff.org/contact/index.html.
No comments:
Post a Comment