Kiki Smith

Scuplture and Drawings

Galleria Lorcan O’Neill

Thursday, September 23- Thursday, November 25, 2010

http://www.lorcanoneill.com/site/index.php

By Monet McCord

Walking along Via della Lungara towards Castel S. Angelo most people notice the large gold statue sitting in a room amongst all the other local stores and businesses that are on this road.  However, it is not clear who the artist is or that it is apart of a gallery, that gallery being Galleria Lorcan O’Neill, which is currently showing the artwork of Kiki Smith and being curated by Laurita Parrilla.

Kiki Smith lives and works in New York.  For more than twenty years she has reflected on human existence, the body, and creativity.  She creates profound and meditative works which explore the rites of passage in a woman’s life.  The exhibition presents a variety of work by the artist, including large sculpture, drawings, porcelain pieces, and jewelry.

The huge bronze-seated sculpture seen on Via della Lungara through the glass window is titled Annunciation with the large drawing Circumstance directly behind it.  The sex of the statue is somewhat obscured but one can immediately connect it to Buddhism, due to its hand gesture, the Abhaya Mudra which signifies a gesture of reassurance, blessing, and protection.  This connection only makes sense after going into the gallery and learning that the artist takes inspiration from mythology, religion, anatomy, and fairy tales.

As the spectator enters the gallery they are approached by another large sculpture to their immediate right.  It is a statue of a female figure holding flowers in one hand and waving with the other, it is as if she is welcoming you into the gallery; she is titled Singer.  Walking through the small gallery the viewer will experience multiple mediums of art, sculpture, drawings, installations, and even jewelry. All the works are connected with the home, nature, birds, or flowers.  There is a section of the gallery that appears to be a segment of a home removed and placed there.  It is a drawing of a window with a bird flying and a vase of flowers on the window seal. In front of this drawing is a chair installation with flowers sitting on it. The chair makes the drawing come to life as if you are really in a home. The feeling of life and freedom is lingering through the gallery, as the artist position gold birds throughout the space.  There is one case where the concept of freedom itself is actually questioned, where a crisscrossing network of lines traps a bird.  This bird is seen hovering over the three smaller drawings that adore the back wall of the gallery. 

On the way out of the gallery the spectator is then again approached by another large sculpture to their right, which also has her hand in the waving gesture, but this time maybe saying goodbye to the viewer.  After viewing the organization of the gallery I wondered if the artist had chosen the layout of the exhibition, and according to the gallerist, she did. It is evident that she wanted to feel like the viewer was entering the home.  There was the greeter at the door, the head woman sitting directly in the center and head of the gallery, typical images that are associated with the household on both sides of the walls, one being the image of the window and the other of a mother and her daughter sitting on a bed, and the other statue to show you to the door.

  

This exhibition is the first that I have seen that is welcoming in its artwork and its organization of space, although the artworks are rather large they do not overpower the viewer into being belittled, they do however uplift and empower the spectator. I think her message about women’s life is apparent in the theme of her art pieces; the topic of the role of the woman and their responsibilities in the home is an ancient theme but Kiki Smith addresses it in a modern way with the use of various mediums.  As seen with other contemporary artist it is very common to mix more than one medium together in a single artwork.  There is no longer just the two simple categories of sculpture and painting, there are installations, drawings on paper, and in this exhibition there is even jewelry.