the amateur art critic: Tanyth Berkeley, Katy Grannan, Eve Fowler and Dana Hoey in MUSE at Tulane

MUSE at Carroll Gallery, Tulane University

None of the pieces in the show are labeled, which immediately draws me to find similarities and group the work on my own. And I did find strong connections, which is interesting upon the realization that it is a show of four different artists. The curator, Stephen Hilger, did a thorough job giving the audience a solid sampling of what is going on in contemporary photography today, especially in the vein of women looking at women and women assessing beauty. I came into the show ignorant of this genre (the new Nan Goldins they have been called) and left the show informed about four prominent artists.

Tanyth Berkeley has been accused of taking photographs of ugly subjects. Many viewers think her work borders grotesque. But I have to disagree with those statements. Berkeley uses beautiful, feminine colors. Her style is clean and soft, and the outdoor settings of leaves and flowers make viewers want to date these "orchids," not mock them. Her work addresses what typical beauty is by photographing atypical beauties. It's a feminist perspective, to think all women are beautiful. Find the flower in each woman, but because of Berkeley's interest in transgender subjects, the perspective is believable. Looking at the carefully taken images, viewers get the sense that Berkeley has an uncanny ability to see beauty in all people, different people.

While with Berkeley viewers feel like beauty is surprising us, showing up in unlikely places, Katy Grannan's work is more about the denial of beauty. Nicole, her subject matter, is obviously in control of sex appeal. What is sexy about the images is not necessarily Nicole's actual appearance but rather her prowess, her control over what is beautiful. Nicole makes gritty drawings on her face beautiful, and Grannan photographs Nicole in a way that empowers her. It is evident when looking at the photographs that her subject's fulfillment does not ride on the interpretation of the audience. That freedom from opinion, the sheer self-sustainability documented in Nicole is a gift. Grannan is gifted to have caught it on camera.

Eve Fowler's work is punctuated by the much-talked-about black photographs. The set up of different sizes placed assymetrically is visually pleasing. Provocative photograph titles are over exposed and therefore black. The idea is to deny the viewer's expectations of what it means to see a "naked woman from behind." Fowler's other photographs seem to be more about sexuality than beauty; but, I suppose they are intertwined. Rather than presenting her subjects as asexual, which is expected for people in between genders (altering their bodies with surgeries and hormones), Fowler photographs them as sexual-charged. When I struggle after awhile trying to figure out if the subject is a man or woman, I eventually give up and realize that it does not matter. Fowler's photographs are engaging enough to see that banter through and leave me thinking that gender must have a deeper meaning than appearance when such beautiful people go to extreme lengths to alter it.

In this particular show, Dana Hoey's Pattern Recognition collages had a hard time competing with large, detailed colorful prints. A variety of ways to view women (pornography, commercial images, etc.) are cut up and collaged into quilt patterns. The hand-made quality is interesting. The juxtaposition with imperfection with something perfection-oriented like quilt making and appearance is valid, but the strongest component is how she physically destroyed photographs in order to form an image. That idea speaks to the larger question: in constructing beauty, what is destroyed.

Tanyth Berkeley
http://www.bellwethergallery.com/artistsindex_01.cfm?fid=83&subid=5&gal=1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanyth_Berkeley
http://www.thecityreview.com/nufoto07.html
http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/tanyth_berkeley.htm