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Id, Ego, Superego
by Patricia
Frischer, coordinator of SDVAN
Freud helps us understand the functions of the mind and how
the unconscious influences our lives. He hypothesized about an
id that answers only to the pleasure principle, a super ego that
differentiates between right and wrong, and an ego that mediates
between the id, the superego and reality.
Are you surprised? Perhaps you thought, as I did, that a
superego was the biggest ego of them all. You don’t put together
40 Movers and Shakers, who make the art world spin, and the 35
artists, who set out to delve deeply to portray them, without
dealing with highly developed egos. Amazingly enough there were
very few clashes of ids during the lead up to this show. Yes, a
few broken appointments, and some miscommunications but on the
whole, this was a positive and enhancing experience for both
groups.
A portrait is made up of insights which try to capture
something of the sitter greater than a single view. It is not a
complete record of the person, but can seek to leave a mystery
to be contemplated. Ellstad’s portrait of Mary-Catherine
Ferguson is made up of 30 distinct individual photographs and
gives us three versions seamlessly integrated into a compelling
whole. Likewise, Crol, Fleener, Yuransky, Duval and Stacy Smith
are giving us faceted views of Naimeh Tahna, Gustaf Rooth, Kevin
Freitas, Steven Churchill and Patricia Smith.
The sheer physical beauty of Ann Berchtold, Victoria
Hamilton, Constance White, Vas Prahbu, Mary Beebe, Jean Lowe,
Felicia Shaw, Alexandra Rosa and Ellen Phelan as depicted by
Roche, Connors, Bean, Greve, Scholz-Rittermann, Cervantes, des
Rosiers, Roxx and Cohen should encourage us to look very closely
at these works. Start by concentrating on the eyes, which we
know are the windows to the soul. What are they seeing? Are they
looking at the artist, beyond the artist or perhaps into their
own superegos? Colis shuts the eyes of Liz Edwards but asks us
to perform the same exercise with Liz’s luscious lips. Matt
D’Arrigo’s closed eyes seem to be a moment of pure bliss
captured by Mofo.
Torero who depicts Naomi Nussbaum and Rix in his portrait of
April Game cast these women as goddesses while Wildesmith turns
Catherine Sass into a superhero. They use symbols to represent a
whole world of important concepts as does Jaeger when she ties
strings around Robert Pincus’s fingers. Tall’s mountain of clay
shows Sandra Chanis embracing the entire Oceanside Museum of
Art. Lisa Smith’s sculptural abstraction of Mario Torero
captures perfectly the whirling dervish qualities of this
volcano of a man. De Watteville brings all the fun of a dancing
teapot cartoon to her celebration of Zandra Rhodes as a
formidable and enticing opera and fashion designer. A circle is
the perfect symbol for the perfect union of Nate and Ralyn
Wolfstein as depicted by Snider and Brown..
Sometimes we are given additional clues to understand a
personality in this show. Stacy Smith shows us the ArtsBusXpress
that is such a big part of Patricia Smith’s life. Ghilarducci
and Bis-Sevon have literally set Laurie Brindle, Laura Groch,
Pam Kragen, and Gary Warth in their North County offices as well
as at play. Raul throws books and a death reminding skull into
the mix with Larry and Debra Poteet. (She is another one of our
beauties that can not be denied.)
There is an incredible balance existing between Tina Yapelli
and her dog in the work by Roberts. Roberts inspires us all to
look as deep as humanly possible and then some. Leo (named after
Leo Castelli) is the dog companion to Hugh Davies and we are
privileged to see into the private life of this public man in
Yoemans’ masterwork. Try contrasting that work with the struggle
Derrick Cartwright has to maintain his position while Greve
seeks to reveal his private side.
But the public persona is in full view in the Trute, Camp,
and Burton paintings of Dennis Batt, Jonathan Segal and Doug
Simay. Here we see power at its fullest. Superegos that have
attained a moral balance are contributing to society and are
still able to indulge in the pleasures of the San Diego visual
art scene.
Press release with photos
Movers
and Shakers: Who’s Who in the Visual Arts in San Diego
Introduction by Patricia Frischer, coordinator of SDVAN
Id, Ego, Superego:Movers
& Shakers: Who’s Who in the San Diego Visual Arts World
by Patricia
Frischer, coordinator of SDVAN
Freud helps us understand the functions of the mind and how
the unconscious influences our lives. He hypothesized about an
id that answers only to the pleasure principle, a super ego that
differentiates between right and wrong, and an ego that mediates
between the id, the superego and reality.
Are you surprised? Perhaps you thought, as I did, that a
superego was the biggest ego of them all. You don’t put together
40 Movers and Shakers, who make the art world spin, and the 35
artists, who set out to delve deeply to portray them, without
dealing with highly developed egos. Amazingly enough there were
very few clashes of ids during the lead up to this show. Yes, a
few broken appointments, and some miscommunications but on the
whole, this was a positive and enhancing experience for both
groups.
A portrait is made up of insights which try to capture
something of the sitter greater than a single view. It is not a
complete record of the person, but can seek to leave a mystery
to be contemplated. Ellstad’s portrait of Mary-Catherine
Ferguson is made up of 30 distinct individual photographs and
gives us three versions seamlessly integrated into a compelling
whole. Likewise, Crol, Fleener, Yuransky, and Stacy Smith are
giving us faceted views of Naimeh Tahna, Gustaf Rooth, Kevin
Freitas, and Patricia Smith.
The sheer physical beauty of Ann Berchtold, Victoria
Hamilton, Constance White, Vas Prahbu, Mary Beebe, Jean Lowe,
Felicia Shaw, Alexandra Rosa and Ellen Phelan as depicted by
Roche, Connors, Bean, Greve, Scholz-Rittermann, Cervantes, des
Rosiers, Roxx and Cohen should encourage us to look very closely
at these works. Start by concentrating on the eyes, which we
know are the windows to the soul. What are they seeing? Are they
looking at the artist, beyond the artist or perhaps into their
own superegos? Colis shuts the eyes of Liz Edwards but asks us
to perform the same exercise with Liz’s luscious lips. Matt
D’Arrigo’s closed eyes seem to be a moment of pure bliss
captured by Mofo.
Torero who depicts Naomi Nussbaum and Rix in his portrait of
April Game cast these women as goddesses while Wildesmith turns
Catherine Sass into a superhero. They use symbols to represent a
whole world of important concepts as does Jaeger when she ties
strings around Robert Pincus’s fingers. Tall’s mountain of clay
shows Sandra Chanis embracing the entire Oceanside Museum of
Art. Lisa Smith’s sculptural abstraction of Mario Torero
captures perfectly the whirling dervish qualities of this
volcano of a man. De Watteville brings all the fun of a dancing
teapot cartoon to her celebration of Zandra Rhodes as a
formidable and enticing opera and fashion designer. A circle is
the perfect symbol for the perfect union of Nate and Ralyn
Wolfstein as depicted by Snider and Brown.
Sometimes we are given additional clues to understand a
personality in this show. Stacy Smith shows us the ArtsBusXpress
that is such a big part of Patricia Smith’s life. Ghilarducci
and Bis-Sevon have literally set Laurie Brindle, Laura Groch,
Pam Kragen, and Gary Warth in their North County offices as well
as at play. Raul throws books and a death reminding skull into
the mix with Larry and Debra Poteet. (She is another one of our
beauties that can not be denied.) Other times it is the lack of
clues that intrigues us as in Lisa's Smith photo of Steven
Churchill.
Bonaimo rose to the challenge of
this exhibition by producing a
portrait in jewelry of a jewelry artist and she did so using
the materials and techniques for which Arline Fisch is known.
Portraits as jewelry has a tradition in lockets and cameos,
which makes this 21 century version so particularly exciting.
There is an incredible balance existing between Tina Yapelli
and her dog in the work by Roberts. Roberts inspires us all to
look as deep as humanly possible and then some. Leo (named after
Leo Castelli) is the dog companion to Hugh Davies and we are
privileged to see into the private life of this public man in
Yoemans’ masterwork. Try contrasting that work with the struggle
Derrick Cartwright has to maintain his position while Greve
seeks to reveal his private side.
But the public persona is in full view in the Trute, Camp,
and Burton paintings of Dennis Batt, Jonathan Segal and Doug
Simay. Here we see power at its fullest. Superegos that have
attained a moral balance are contributing to society and are
still able to indulge in the pleasures of the San Diego visual
art scene.
Most good portraits are, in a way, portraits of the artist
who create them. The best express a feeling about the human
condition and have exceptional clarity. They reflect not only
the subject but also something of the time and place. They
advance the scope of art. We want to see a physical resemblance
but we also need the intellectual and emotional aspects of the
subject’s personality revealed.
This show is not intended as a 'best of" survey. It is a
sampling, instead, of many types of art honoring just a few of
the VIPs in our art world both Movers and Shakers and artists.
Press release with photos
Click this link to
listen to Patricia Frischer's ArtRocks! Radio interview:
02 Movers & Shakers: Who's Who in the San Diego Visual Arts
World - PATRICIA FRISCHER |
This left-of-center jewelry designer has a knack
for seeing the potential art in everyday objects. Denise J.
Bonaimo takes the mundane and makes it extraordinary. When most
people look at the plastic pawns from a board game, or a handful
of malformed dirt covered antique metal thimbles, do they think
“That would make a great bracelet!”? Bonaimo does.
When Bonaimo brushed away the crusty, dried soil
and filed some of the edges, she was delighted to see how these
forgotten objects, buried within the earth for so many years,
had been transformed into such beautiful objects. With the use
of an acetylene torch, drill bits, saws, hammers, files and
shears Bonaimo’s Unearthed:Metal collection was born, or
reborn, you could say.
