Multidisciplinary artist Brendan Fowler combines photography, sculpture, and performance in latest large-scale work (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
BRENDAN FOWLER: CRASH
Museum of Modern Art
The Robert and Joyce Menschel Photography Gallery, third floor
11 West 53rd St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
Through January 6
Museum admission: $25 ($12 can be applied to the purchase of a film ticket within thirty days)
212-708-9400
www.moma.org
www.brendanfowler.com
American visual artist and musician Brendan Fowler, who has recorded free jazz and “deconstructed pop” performance-art compositions under the name BARR (Summary, Beyond Reinforced Jewelcase) and now as And Martin, also tells stories by taking photographs, framing the pigmented inkjet prints, then crashing one through the others to form abstract narratives, like a group of instruments suddenly coming together following a series of solos to arrive at something completely new. Five such pieces are part of MoMA’s “New Photography” exhibit, which continues through January 6. Fowler literally smashes them through each other, creating a three-dimensional sculpture-picture that also references the way computers can tile multiple windows (and, perhaps, crash) and how frantic life’s narrative can be these days. “The ‘Crash’ pieces are super fake and not actually crashed together,” Fowler explains in the accompanying MoMA audio. “They look like an incident that happened quickly, maybe, and suddenly. But in reality, they’re a lot less like a fight and more like a surgery. They’re really slow and procedural and take a lot of steps.” The works are very personal, consisting of photos of friends and relatives that are included in the title; for example, “Summer 2010 (Computer on 20” Slingerland Bass Drum, Accident/The Wood Fell on Me in Studio May 20 2010 #5, ‘Poster for Dialog with the Band Aids Wolf’ Screens in Studio, Flower in Patty’s Gazebo 2)” and “Spring 2011 – Spring 2012 (Colin/Angelo/Dane, Andrea’s Hand on Hat Head in Coronado Ter. House, Graham in Truck, Mirror Reflecting White Flat 1).” Four of the works hang tilted on one wall next to one another, while in the corner stands a large-scale work Fowler made specifically for this show.
Brendan Fowler’s “Crash” series is part of MoMA’s “New Photography” exhibit (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
“Winter 2011–Fall 2012 (Joel and Sean and Carol and Chadwick Installing at Untitled 3, ‘Miles’’ Security Jacket, Andrea Told the People at Café Gratitude That It Was Maxwell’s Birthday When It Wasn’t, Andrea’s Cousin’s Cousin’s House on Easter, Ry Showing New UNTITLED Logo, Photographic Arts Center, Coronado Ter. Screen Door, Proofing ANPQ 16 with Casey, What Wendy Saw)” features no crashing but has the added element of a pair of angled frames facing inward within bigger, otherwise empty frames, adding to the mystery, especially with the word “Security” popping out in two places. It also serves as a different kind of performance. “When I started really trying to make sculptures, the idea was to figure out how to make objects that would function in my absence, because the performance obviously was so much predicated on me being there and really about me engaging with the room and addressing everyone directly.” Fowler’s work certainly achieves that. The show also includes works by Annette Kelm, Lisa Oppenheim, Anna Ostoya, Josephine Pryde, Eileen Quinlan, and Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin.