beyond narcissus 01

BEYOND NARCISSUS #1 new york, November 20, 2005 – January 30, 2006 katalógus
Mirrors and Contemporary Vanities

The mirror has always been credited with almost mystical qualities: myth and history have often referred to its power to reflect the truth or its ability to deceive. This fascination is rooted in its quality of intermediary: the mirror represents the threshold between the tangible world and the immaterial one. It has infatuated many, especially artists who, since Antiquity, have quintessentially represented it in the hands of a woman. An allegory for coquetry, it is also a symbol of beauty and vanity (3) : In front of Sandra D. Lecoq 's mirrors, Acid Kiss (1997-2002) the spectator will be seduced by his illusory double. Her small mirrors are imprinted with the artist's lips, revealed by a jet of acid. These corrosive kisses break the narcissistic charm. Sandra D. Lecoq (1972) Acid Kiss, 1997-2002, Series of nine “breaths” on mirror, 15 x 15 cm for each mirror

In Dennis Adams 's piece, an intimate exchange occurs between the viewer and the fake mirror made of grey paint, illuminated by four bulbs on each side. The work's title: Vanity for Patricia Hearst (1997) evokes the mirror in tribute to an absent woman who was once in the public eye. How does one distinguish between the self and the other? There is a similarity between the observer and the viewed, no longer present. The artist puts the viewer face-to-face with his conscience and history that has been repressed and denied: “My work is about the fragility of history and memory in a fast-paced consumer society. I want to make visible the instant of loss, savor it if you will, as a kind of poetics of desperation.” The attraction of this way of seeing may unconsciously lead one to look for truths and buried memories. Dennis Adams (1948) Vanity for Patricia Hearst, 1997, Mixed media, 85.5 x 92 x 41 cm

The mirror of Alfredo Jaar ( Untilted , 2004) seems ordinary, even banal, and yet, when one approaches it, we do not see our reflection, but the face of a worker in the mines who intrudes upon our pleasant contemplation. It is more about reflecting others than ourselves. The formal simplicity is only equaled by the complexity of the apparatus and its esthetic range: how can we escape the amnesia that haunts us? In his exploration of the complex relations between art, politics and memory, Alfredo Jaar uses mirrors to reveal the narcissism of the western world, while at the same time confronting it with photographs of those forgotten in our world."
Alfredo Jaar Mirror, 2004, Mixed media, 69 x 69 x 11 cm