St. Louis Beacon - Review: Beauty of labor is in the detail

Inform our coverage: Where's your favorite wintertime farmers' market? | What's it like to be 65 or better in 2012?

Home

Cialis Online

Review: Beauty of labor is in the detail

By Ivy Cooper, Beacon Art Critic

Posted 6:00 pm Thu., 2.18.10

Now at the Kemper Art Museum, two fascinating exhibitions come at the subject of labor from divergent starting points.

lunch break

courtesy of the Kemper Museum

When: Through April 19
Where: Kemper Art Museum, Washington University. For directions, click here .
Information: 314-935-4523, www.kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu/

Allison Smith’s “Needle Work” includes research the artist has done into masks and face coverings of all kinds — gas masks, veils, fashion facewear and sinister costumes — and her “authentic reproductions” of selected examples. The show foregrounds the labor put into recreating these odd, terrifying things, and showcases them with labels in vitrines that recall anthropological exhibition cases.

For “Lunch Break,” Sharon Lockhart spent a year with work crews at the Bath Iron Works, a shipbuilding factory in Maine. In films and still photos, she portrays the workers but not the work — we see them on break, leaving the factory or view their ancient lunch boxes.

Her photos and films are elegiac, paeans to a particular breed of skilled manual laborer that is disappearing in this country.

They also take their place among works by the 19th century Lumiere Brothers and contemporary photo-conceptualist Allan Sekula as significant documents of the human experiences of working-class men and women.

Ivy Cooper, a professor of art at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, is the Beacon's art critic. To reach her, contact Beacon features and commentary editor Donna Korando.

Only registered users can comment on an article. Please login or register.

JComments

Editors' Picks

Books
- The JCC is holding its used book sale Feb. 5-9 at the Jewish Community Center Staenberg Family Complex, #2 Millstone Campus Dr. $10 for Feb. 5 (10 a.m.-4 p.m.) only. Free Feb. 6-8 (10 a.m.-7 p.m.) and Feb. 9 (10 a.m.-4 p.m.)
- "The Sense of an Ending" by Julian Barnes wins Man Booker prize: The 150-page book is a reflection of memory through the eyes of an ordinary man in his 60s. | Huffington Post
- Philip Levine will be new U.S. poet laureate: He is best known for his big-hearted, Whitmanesque poems about working-class Detroit. | New York Times
- Philip Roth awarded Man Booker International Prize for range and depth of his fiction: The decision prompted one of the three judges to resign in protest. | New York Times
Theater/Dance
- Avalon Theatre company presents "Love Letters" Feb. 16-19, featuring Erin Kelley and Larry Mabrey at 8 p.m. Feb. 16-18 and 3 p.m. Feb. 19. at 119 Crestwood Plaza. $15-$25.
- COCA Family Theatre Series presents "Twinkle Twonkle" (Tall Stories) Feb. 10-12. $14-$20. www.cocastl.org/FTS
- "One More Laugh," a comedy variety show, will be hitting the stage at Lemmons, 5800 Gravois on Tuesdays from 9-11 p.m. $1. For information, email the host, [email protected]
- "Book of Mormon" tops Tony field with 14 nominations: Another musical, "Scottsboro Boys," was nominated for 12 awards. | New York Times
Music
- The Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Blvd., is hosting a "Cdelebrate the Gospel" concert at 3 p.m. Feb. 12 with the The St. Alphonsus Liguori "Rock" Catholic Church choir. Included with admission ($4-$8 - free children 12 and under). Schoenberg Theater.
- Blues singer Etta James dies at age 73: Her assertive, earthy voice lit up such hits as "The Wallflower," "Something's Got a Hold on Me" and the wedding favorite "At Last." | CNN
- Chamber Project Saint Louis presents "Very Open Rehearsal" at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 12 at the Tavern of Fine Arts, 313 Belt Ave. Free
- Rob Hinkal (guitar, vocals) and Heather Lloyd (guitar, vocals, djembe) bring ilyAIMY (i love you And I Miss You) to the Focal Point, 2720 Sutton, at 8 p.m. June 18. $10 at the door 314-781-4200

Neighborhoods
- The Missouri Botanical Garden's Orchid Show will run from Jan. 28 through March 25. $5 in addition to regular garden admission. 4344 Shaw Blvd.
- "Run for the Chocolate" will take place Feb. 12 starting at 8 a.m. in downtown St. Louis. To find out more about this 5K run, go to downtownstl.org.
- The Missouri Botanical Garden is hosting Around the World Wine dinners on the third Friday of the month (Jan. 20, Feb. 17, March 16) at 6:30 p.m. $58 a person, plus 18 percent tax and service. Reservations required: 314-577-0200.
- The Sam Fox School public lecture series presents Frank Barkow, architect, at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 24 in Steinberg Hall Auditorium.
Visual Arts
- The Pulitzer's senior curator and curatorial staff will share their ideas about the religious, artistic and historical contexts of the works displayed in the "Reflection of the Buddha" at 2 p.m. Feb. 13. Free. 3716 Washington Blvd.
- Craft Alliance in the Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 N. Grand, presents Studio Design: Contemporary Furniture Feb. 10 (reception 6-8 p.m.) through April 8.
- "Harry Bertoia, Forty Years of Drawing" will run from Jan. 26 to March 17 at Gallery 210 on UMSL's North Campus. (Reception with Bertoia's daughter willgo from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Jan. 26) Check website for regular hours.
- Balazx Kicsiny's "Killing Time" will be on exhibit at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University, from Jan. 27-April 16 (opening reception 7-9 p.m. Jan. 27). Kicsiny will also speak on his work at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 30 in Steinberg Hall.
Movies/TV
- Billy Crystal back as host of Oscars: He will replace Eddie Murphy, who dropped out after producer Brett Ratner resigned as producer. | New York Times
- HBO leads the field with 104 Emmy nominations: Its remake of "Mildred Pierce" led all shows with 21 nominations. | LA Times
- "Gunsmoke" marshal James Arness dies at age 88: As Matt Dillon, he led the cast of the TV show that set the bar for Westerns and became one of the longest-running prime-time series in network TV history. | LA Times
- Oprah Winfrey ends 25-year run: TV host is not so much leaving a job as reinventing herself — again. | Christian Science Monitor

'The Road Show' improv

Brent Jones | St. Louis Beacon

This Saturday was the debut of a new show by The Improv Shop that will bring out of town improv teams to St. Louis to play for — and with — a local audience. The Road Show brought teams "Everybody Grok" and "Felt" from Chicago.

We talked to Eric Christensen, producer of the Road Show and member of local improv team "Ted Dangerous"; Katie Nunn, member of "Ted Dangerous" and improv coach; and Melanie Penn and Ranjan Khan, members of local teams "Melanj" and "Magic Ratio"; about the St. Louis improv scene and why it's important to welcome teams from other cities to perform here.

See a larger version of the slideshow

Topics

Will record flood of 2011 lead to changes in Mississippi River management

Beacon Washington correspondent Robert Koenig looks at past efforts to control the Mississippi and why the 2011 floods might lead planners in a new direction. Read more about St. Louis and disasters.

See all featured topics stories

Voices

MSD and sustainable infrastructure

Doug Williams says the proposed consent decree before the U.S. district court here may not be perfect, but it's the best way to move forward to stop the costs of inadquate waste- and storm-water systems.
'Real' TV from Snooki to Mitt

M.W. Guzy fears his daughters' affection for trash TV might have been genetically inherited, as he finds himself drawn to the anybody-but-Mitt show, playing on a loop on cable "news' channels.
Letter from Honduras: Family in December

Miguel Dulick recounts a trans-Honduras tour that, again, reminded him of the power and joy of keeping siblings and parents connected.

Beacon Roundtable

Roundtable for Feb. 2 - Missouri Primary, redistricting, a Komen controversy and fighting crime with moneyball

In this week's Beacon Roundtable, Dick Weiss, Jason Rosenbaum, Jo Mannies, Robert Joiner and Dale Singer sit down to talk about the Missouri primary and redistricting, the controversy around…
Read more...

Local advertising by PaperG

Learn more

Beacon Blog

In search of a 'social media' definition

General manager Nicole Hollway is back to the Beacon blog and she's trying to piece together what social media is and means to people.
Read more...

On chess

St. Louis: the new home of collegiate chess

Ben Finegold says recent moves by Lindenwood and Webster universities have positioned the region to be the chess capita of the United States.

Read more...