by Marcel ReyesImage used is Dix's Portrait of the Dancer Anita Berber, a highlighted work in this exhibition (used educationally for this review).
Though raw in content and at times appearance, Dix's work should not be taken as loose and expressive. It is tight and focused visually, and thematically the ouvre as a whole bottlenecks to passion and violence, portrayed with theatricality and grotesqueness.
This show presents Dix's work in dual experiences of appeal, first it presents the work as embittered political commentary about war and nationality, but it also connotes the celebrity of Dix himself, particularly in the resurgence of his more straightforward portraiture ("the golden Weimar years") in the dead-center of his 20th century career.
The Neue Galerie's Dix Show offers, as commemorative merchandise, Dix-inspired Estee Lauder lipstick and a compact of pressed powder (in gold), a nod to his apparent love for glamorous women and obsession in particular with prostitutes. He explored a range of subjects--prior to World War II, he depicted sexual violence almost exclusively, and afterwards his work depicted the suffering of war--yet the visual language he developed is so distinct in its morbidity and macabre, it can be inferred that his viewpoint of the human experience at its most basic level is adapting to the grotesque nature of life.
There is, in the wall text, a comparison between his drawings/etchings and Goya's "Disasters of War," which in 2007 showed at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in the "War and Discontent" exhibition. I know that segment of Goya's work intimately, my program collaborated with curator Cheryl Brutvan in interpreting those pieces for a pre-college audience. It is interesting to note that while Goya's pieces are epic in feel, a sweeping narrative of war -- symbolized, really -- by archetypal imagery, Dix's pieces are more claustrophobic and didactic... separating the broad resonance of war from the intimate and personal aspect that affects and transforms human lives. Dix does not dwell too consciously in archetype -- it is illustrative and anecdotal -- more morbid, more visceral, and seems to be less concerned in the discussion of war in relation to populism and discontent. Dix is discussing the impact of war on individuals, the narratives of his pieces focusing specifically on persons experiencing atrocities that transform their entire worldview.
His protestation against the Third Reich is veiled but observable, as can be appreciated in this retrospective. The religious imagery can be taken as an implication of either the evil nature of war, an allegory to the militarism of religion, a comment on how war distorts principles of allegiance and order, or all of the above. The Dix show at Neue is powerful, moving, jarring, and yet circular and satisfying -- a true retrospective in effect as well as execution, and a privileged insight into the troubled mind of an artistic idealist.
Click here to listen to the audio tour podcast [] Click here to read the press release [] Click here to visit the exhibition page @ the Neue Gallery website
First Review of this Venue: Gallery Review
The 1914 Carrère & Hastings (architects of the New York Public Library) building that houses this Austrian/German museum has survived several iterations of function, namely as the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. It was purchased by Ronald S. Lauder and Serge Sabarsky in 1994. Anabelle Seldorf renovated to be the center presenting Germanic culture in the past century it is today. A highlight in the Viennese Decorative Arts Gallery (breathtaking pre-Bauhaus cutlery and other decorative items are displayed veraciously in a series of glass vitrines) is Gustav Klimt's Adele Bloch-Bauer I (detail), 1907. Longtime Klimt fans who hadn't seen the work physically beyond a reproduction can appreciate the texture and golden sheen that reproductions only hint at.
Enjoy an affordable menu at Cafe Sabarsky, where our party delighted on a breakfast of bread basket, ring cake, Otto Dix “Berliner Luft” almond and currant cake, and authentic Wiener Mélange. Truly a highlight of the Upper East Side experience, and I imagine a daily treat for many locals. The Cafe also has a Cabaret performance program.
Download a PDF of the Cafe Sabarsky Menu [] Cafe Sabarsky [] Neue Galerie
Having just visited the Neue Galerie I can say that the experience is not to be missed.
ReplyDeleteThe current Otto Dix exhibition is nothing less than a must-see. The grotesque nature of the portraits is reminiscent of Goya but is decidedly much more personal and effecting.
The cafe itself is worth a visit. A perfect place to relax and have some magnificent brioche toast :)