Upon entering Christian Tomaszewski's exhibit, "Hunting for Pheasants," at the Tufts University Art Gallery, the viewer is assaulted by color. Large vertical bands are painted on all the walls of the Remis Sculpture Court, making the room seem like a giant television testing pattern, and this visual overload is the precursor to a show no less confusing or surreal.
The central exhibit is in the Aidekman Arts Center's Koppelman Gallery, and the walls there are painted with similar vertical stripes. This time, however, each band has a painting placed in it. White wooden barriers increase the confusion of the set up, as they divide up the floor area of the gallery almost like a hedge maze.
The overall effect is heavily inspired by Warhol-era pop art. But instead of restricting the bright, flattened images to the paintings themselves, Tomaszewski expands this surreal experience into the viewer's space.
Tomaszewski was born in Gdynia, Poland in 1971, and his work shows a strong influence from the medium of film. For Tomaszewski, film is a way to expand art further into the viewer's experiential realm. His past work has included surrealist pieces which make a tangible effort to place the viewer within a particular film experience. "Hunting for Pheasants" includes less of the film medium itself, but continues to explore the concept of film as a way to expand the presence of art in the viewer's eyes.
Despite the gallery's bright color scheme, the subject matter of the paintings is somber. Tomaszewski has chosen to portray both fictional and real victims of assassination in poster-style pieces. The victims take on the persona of a fictional movie character through their mannerisms and portrayal. In contrast to these pseudo-portraits are neon signs hung sideways which say things like "shine" and "always make new mistakes." A continual loop of video footage related to assassination is projected against the wall on a confusing black-and-white background.
One particularly poignant image portrays the Turkish feminist activist Konca Kuris in what appears to be an outfit taken from a teen magazine. Although the face itself is clearly hers, there is a definite disconnect between her face and body. One hand tosses back long hair while the other clutches a purse, which appears to be the focus of the advertisement. The irony of putting the face of a woman killed for her devotion to feminism on such a shallow and superficial form brings exposes the tension between individuals and the over-generalizing, idealizing aspects of popular media. The forcible portrayal of Kuris in a commercialized, almost sexualized manner also speaks to the corruption of such individuals by the media. Once their story is out in the world, they cease to be individuals and take on whatever characteristics the media gives them.
The film also explores media and identity. The footage is projected on the gallery wall in a manner similar to the way the paintings are hung, forming a direct link between the film's subject matter and the themes of the paintings. However, the footage is choppy, the clips are not related to one another and the busy background onto which the footage is projected adds to the confusion. Again, Tomaszewski seems to be questioning the role and integrity of the media in portraying individuals.
Tomaszewski's work subjects viewers to visual and mental strain, creating uneasiness about their place in the gallery space which mimics their inability to determine their own place in such a manipulated world. He goes so far as to mix fictional fallen heroes with real life victims, and unless the viewer knows the background of every single individual being portrayed, it is impossible to tell which is which.
The title of the exhibit, "Hunting for Pheasants," alludes to a media-dominated society in which facts are used only to further the ideas of the all-powerful popular media. The media 'hunts' for stories that they can transform into a prize pheasant to be looked at and passed around, with no regard for what it was before it died.
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Christian Tomaszewski: Hunting for Pheasants
Koppelman Gallery and Remis Sculpture Court, through March 29
Tufts University Art Gallery
Aidekman Arts Center
40R Talbot Avenue
617-627-3518
