This afternoon, in the spirit of Chanukah, I journeyed to the Jewish Museum on the corner of 92nd street and 5th avenue. Although the museum generally charges a $12 admission fee (unless you are a Macaulay student), it is free for all visitors on Saturdays.
The first floor was dedicated to a Man Ray exhibit and, consequentially, I never got to the other floors. Man Ray, born Emmanuel Radnitzky, was an artist in every sense of the word. He painted, sculpted, wrote, photographed, and filmed. The exhibit included a filmed, biographical interview with Ray. “I’m a free man,” he said, referring to his ability to make whichever type of art he wanted to make whenever he felt like making it. The film was displayed last, and so I saw it after I viewed his wide variety of work. It was a touching conclusion. The other pieces included Obstruction, a dangling network of wooden coat hangers, as well as various self-portraits. Obstruction stood out because it was the only piece that was suspended from the ceiling. It cast an intricate shadow upon the white wall behind it. In fact, many of Ray’s pieces emphasized the beauty of shadows.
Perhaps Ray was symbolizing his shadowed roots; he changed his name and hid his Russian-Jewish identity throughout most of his life. Although Ray was forced to flee from Paris during World War II, he avoided his roots and attempted to remain anonymous. At some point during his persecution, Ray began to confront his past and to symbolically work with primary colors. He painted the famous La fortune, which is now permanently displayed on the fourth floor of the Whitney Museum.
The exhibit seemed to be organized chronologically. Ray’s different “eras,” and therefore his different approaches to his background, were assembled in their own rooms. My favorite room included what I believe was work from a humorous era; he “airbrushed paintings to make them look like photographs and exposed objects on light-sensitive paper to create cameraless ‘rayographs.’” *
“Alias Man Ray: The Art of Reinvention” is a fascinating exhibit, but one that requires time and attention. I recommend it to painters, photographers, scuplters, and filmmakers alike, since all of those art forms are present. Just don’t expect to have time to look at the rest of the museum!
* Source of quote: http://www.thejewishmuseum.org/exhibitions/manray
