That body of (a reflection of the sky)
I was once asked what carries my love? / I replied / My breath
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I was once asked what carries my love? / I replied / My breath
In early December, my friend Joey Merlo and I sat down for coffee to discuss the upcoming remount of his acclaimed play, On Set with Theda Bara, directed by Jack Serio. Originally premiering at the Brick Theaters Exponential Theater Festival in 2023, its the story of a middle-aged detective trying to solve an especially harrowing case: the disappearance of his own kid.
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As I think of the successes and failures of artists legacies, Ive learned different stories tell different lifes circumstances, depending on luck and persistent efforts on the behalf of those who are dedicating their lives to perpetually keeping the artists works alive and contextually relevant in the former, while in the latter what requires of the artists caretakers, be it members of their families, friends or colleagues there my lack of clarity of intentions or self-motivations.
Amy Butowiczs nine large-scale drawings now clipped to the wall at Peninsula feature hands, feet, and other less identifiable body parts pressing into or encircling each other like the doubled-over folds of stretched putty. Clearly a thematic of touch is at play, but in a way different from the artists earlier work, which was more squarely abstract or else alluded to nature, design history, or aspects of human form alone. In a crucial development, several works at Peninsula, by contrast, include horse anatomy, primarily hooves and haunches.