On a hike last summer, Claudia
Fitch came across a stand of deadly nightshade. (image via)
Its colors were
precise, and its leaves so crisply constructed they looked manufactured.
FLOATING MECHANISM (nightshade) is the result, an installation
at Suyama Space
curated by Beth Sellars.
Fitch has a
longstanding interest in
the theme of manufactured gardens, specifically topiary, using steel and
AstroTurf for the
purpose.
Her gardens led to figurative abstractions: breasts, hips and hairdos
made from welded metal armatures and Styrofoam covered in velvety
flocking.
She engages art history as if the artists in it were in
the room, having a conversation with her.
Umberto Boccioni Unique Forms of Continuity in
Space 1913 (cast 1931). Bronze, 43 7/8″ x 34 7/8″ x 15 3/4″ (111.2 x
88.5 x 40 cm). Image via Museum
of Modern Art
MANTEL PIECE #2
(pleated), 2007 (Patinated bronze with oil paint 21″ x
20″ x 6″ Ed/3) Her version has a touch of Art Deco that tones down
Futurism’s inherent hysteria.
For FM (nightshade),
she engaged the landscape as a floating world, following Hiroshige.
Instead of following him into anything close to a literal terrain, she
took her tribute into the comics. Is there another artist who turns the
jaunty emblems of comic strips into abstraction without losing their
wisecracking verve?
The lens-like object on its cantilevered armature hangs
over a pool, seeing itself. Hanging over the floor is a production line
of blooms, quite breast-like. What is the fate of a breast in the age of
mechanical reproduction? Each is perfect. Each one rises, dotted with
red at its tip. None lies flat or sags on its side. FM (nightshade)
is a hat tip to Fitch’s fellow makers, those who, like her, fabricate
fantasies from the world’s raw material.
Through April 23.
When I loved in Seattle, I thought Claudia Fitch was one of the most underrated artists in America. I still think that. The problem is where she lives. Seattle. Seattle is the death of art reputations. Good artists live there and work there and nobody knows about them, because they’re in Seattle, where news never travels beyond the city limits.
Mildred. Snore. Good artists are ignored everywhere. If you want attention, jump out a window. No, wait. Yves Klein already did that.
Disregard these 2 grumbling comments on the Seattle scene … I saw Claudia Fitch’s in the Suyama Space and think it is wonderful, fun, and thought provoking. Go see it. What a wonderful little gallery space.