Daily Bruin

By Barbara E. Hernandez
Daily Bruin Staff

The month of September holds special meaning to Jews, a month
centering around Judaism’s high holidays, a time of moral analysis
and the celebration of the new year. The Kerckhoff Art Gallery
honors the high holidays with the exhibit, "What Jews Do in
September: Accounting and Atoning," banding together numerous
Jewish artists to present their impressions of holidays from Rosh
Hashanah to Sukkot. Each piece illustrates atonement, tradition and
fertility in differing artistic media.

"We tried to write up explanatory notes for the art and
artifacts," says Tzili Mor, co-director of the Kerckhoff Art
Gallery, afraid the display of Judaica may confuse those not
familiar with it. "The holidays try to prepare you ethically and
morally for the new year."

Coming on the heels of Sukkot, the last holiday of the season,
the art show closes a chapter on a religious and spiritual time.
"The exhibit is not about being Jewish, but about a general theme
of New Year and new beginnings. We chose the theme of the Jewish
New Year to coincide with the school’s new year," says Mor.

The gallery features artists using a variety of media. Amy
Goldenberg, a graduate student of library science in the newly
installed Graduate School of Education and Informational Science,
is a master of the papercut. Using fall colors of burnt orange and
brown, Goldenberg’s shivit, "Shiviti for Sukkot", a traditional
Jewish papercutting, manages to convey the feel of a home during
Sukkot, complete with shiviti, palm fronds and Byzantine terraced
walls.

As an undergraduate in art, Goldenberg specialized in metal
arts. In her last semester of college she discovered the ancient
art of papercutting and loved it. "I decided to try one and I was
hooked," she says.

She was so hooked that she wrote her first book on the subject,
"Papercutting: Reviving a Jewish Folk Art."

"It’s really a folk art in every culture," Goldenberg stresses.
"In Jewish culture, it’s usually Mizrah and Shivit, decorations for
holidays."

Continuing the holiday theme, Ruth Roberts, docent for the
Hebrew Union College Skirball Museum, contributed cards she makes
commemorating Jewish holidays. "I don’t sell," Roberts says. "I
give them to people who appreciate it."

Her numerous cards, each celebrating holidays like Rosh Hashanah
and Yom Kippur, convey images of creation and finality. In her "Yom
Kippur Seal," her minimalist take on the ending of atonement makes
it a powerful piece. "I wanted to give up the finality of
atonement," Roberts says.

The dark red seal, so reminiscent of blood, encloses an envelope
like the ending of an event, a time, a life. Still, at the center,
closely a viewer can see an almost freeing and hopeful vision of a
bird’s flight. Roberts had originally considered a gold or silver
seal but a majestic-holy feel wasn’t the effect she wanted. She
wanted something a little more antique and found that in touring
historical Virginia. Finding the old sealing wax, used in colonial
times, reminded her of the antiquity of her card. The wax was also
"the only one that held up to mailing," she reasons.

Her other cards explore Creation and honor the New Year, such as
Selichot. "It’s the beginning of prayers and preparations for the
holidays, ones of adoration, thanksgiving and repentance."

More photographs depicting bicoastal celebrations line the wall
of Kerckhoff. Using both people and food, Bill Aron’s photographs
remind the viewer of family, tradition and primal sensuality. Paul
Vogler’s traditional "Shofar" uses the image to awaken people to
their responsibilities.

Miriam Krombach’s earthenware illustrates the family and
simplicity of the holidays and Carrie Ungerman uses the symbolism
of the pomegranate to portray fertility. While most of the pieces
have more subtle symbolism, the materials on loan from the Gallery
Judaica establish more concrete symbols.

However, the works in the gallery from both UCLA artists and the
outside community tie together the symbols so predominant in Judaic
tradition and culture.

ART EXHIBIT: "What Jews Do in September:
Accounting and Atoning" presented by Cultural Affairs Commission.
Reception tonight, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Kerckhoff Art
Gallery. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. For more info., call
(310) 825-6564.

By Brian Remick

If for only an hour or two, it seemed that the reign of hard
rock over the Palace temporarily ceased with the presence of a
small Australian band named Frente! (exclamation point intended and
definitely necessary).

Indeed, last Friday night the band showed the guests of the
Palace that acoustic rock is alive and well in the land of
music.

Frente!, with that trademark exclamation point, toured Southern
California last weekend promoting "Marvin the Album," their second
release and first full-length album on the Mammoth Records
label.

The group has an on-stage presence that is not typical of bands
on tour. They actually talk to one another in a conversational
manner, making the show more than just a bombardment of their
latest material, and a chance to get to know the members of the
band as human beings.

The fans, too, seemed to enjoy this natural style. Following the
first song, a fan in front of the stage held up a bouquet of
flowers for lead vocalist Angie Hart. "Go get the pretty flowers,
Angie," said Simon Austin, lead guitarist. She gently bent down to
pick them up, gratefully thanked the fan and Frente! played on.

They performed almost every song on "Marvin the Album,"
including a strange yet fantastic version of "Labour of Love," one
of their biggest hits. With the absence of the flutist for unknown
reasons, Simon Austin took the opportunity to demonstrate his
ability to imitate a flute with his voice. This attempt turned out
to be quite hilarious, actually, but still showed Frente!’s casual
attitude toward their music.

Austin showed more of his musical talent – this time on the
guitar – in an excellent version of "Lonely," featuring some of his
most melodic chord progressions, easily keeping the Palace crowd
captivated and begging for an encore.

Although the audience was definitely enjoying the show, singing
along to Frente!’s version of New Order’s classic "Bizarre Love
Triangle," Hart seemed disappointed that no one was dancing. "If
you’d like to dance, then … I’d like for you to dance," she said
with her enchanting Australian accent. The crowd laughed, but even
with her plea, the dancing never really did pick up.

Some technical problems developed about half way through the
show, starting with the bass player, Tim O’Connor. He left the
stage a couple of times, while the rest of the band went on without
him. "I’m having a horrible night," Hart mentioned toward the end
of the set, although the problems went almost unnoticed to the
audience and definitely did not take away from the performance as a
whole.

Frente! has such a casual approach to their music that one could
feasibly see them as a simple coffeehouse band (by no means meant
degradingly), which is a characteristic that few bands possess.
Angie Hart’s soft voice coupled with Simon Austin’s catchy guitar
riffs and unique dancing style make Frente’s on-stage presence
almost irresistible.

The band continued the set with riveting versions of "Most
Beautiful" and "Cuscation." A fan waved his cigarette lighter in
the air, only to be given a signal by Angie Hart to extinguish the
flame.

Much to the surprise of the almost sold-out crowd at the Palace,
Frente! finished quite abruptly with no encore, playing less than
one hour total. Perhaps the technical problems became too much to
handle.

Aside from some small sound problems, the Palace turned out to
be an excellent venue for the acoustic-based band. Its small size
and intimate atmosphere gave the audience an extraordinary
opportunity to see this new music sensation doing what they do best
– being themselves.

By John Irvin

The camera shows what appears to be a female figure seated on a
chair. She is wearing tight pants and stockings, and she is
blindfolded. Her hands are tied behind the chair. The photograph is
a self-portrait by Pierre Molinier.

A viewer might ask why a woman appears as the subject of a
self-portrait by a photographer with a man’s name. Perhaps it is a
woman using a man’s name. But the date of the work is 66 years
after the photographer’s birthdate, and the subject looks young.
Perhaps the photographer is making a statement of self by excluding
his own image. Perhaps the photograph has been doctored in some
way.

In any case, the discrepancies between our assumptions about
self-portraits and this result provide mystery to Molinier’s self-
portrait.

Molinier’s work and over 100 others are part of "The Camera I,"
a collection of photographic self-portraits currently showing at
Los Angeles County Museum of Art through Oct. 23.

The collection began as the project of Audrey and Sydney Irmas
during the 1970s, and was donated to LACMA in 1992. It includes
works ranging from the mid-19th century to the present day.

A visitor cannot view the photographs for very long without
reflecting on the nature of self-presentation. The exhibit begs the
question, "What is self-portrait?"

Some works, such as the self-portraits of Imogen Cunningham and
Edward Weston, seem like straightforward presentations of the
photographer as subject. Others, such as Molinier’s untitled work,
test the credulity of the viewer.

Still others, such as works by Bruce Nauman and Andy Warhol,
obstruct the relationship between the viewer and the subject by
fragmentation of the subject as a whole.

A self-portrait is a statement of self. In fact, anything we do
– putting on certain clothes, performing our job, taking our exams,
singing a song – can be considered self-portrait in that it
reflects our own inner feelings and self-perception.

A self-portrait provides the artist with the opportunity to
present himself or herself to the viewer. The process is
self-conscious and self-revealing. It is personal. A statement of
self is an intimate experience in which the photographer decides
how much or what angle of himself or herself to reveal, and then
controls the process of recording that image.

Some photographers control their image very carefully, while
others let their hair down and allow the camera to record whatever
is there to be seen.

But if a self-portrait involves the "self," what is the self?
How does the photographer define that self?

The self can be many things. Some, such as Robert Mapplethorpe
and Diane Arbus, define their self through their body. In
Mapplethorpe’s "Self-portrait" from 1980, he reveals himself in the
nude, from chest up, with long flowing hair, bursting with animal
sensuality.

In Diane Arbus’ "Self-portrait in Mirror," she appears mostly
unclothed and also reveals a sensuality, but of a different sort.
She is obviously pregnant in the photograph – her enlarged belly
shows it. The purpose of the photograph was to announce her
pregnancy to her husband, who was stationed overseas during World
War II.

Not only does her belly show the physical state of being
pregnant, but her entire body, her stance, the attitude of her head
and the expression on her face all reveal a psychological message
of playful coolness and vulnerability. Arbus shares a very touching
and personal moment with the camera. The pose seems to say, "Here I
am," or "Look what you did," or even, "Are you going to take care
of me?"

Other artists define their self through their role. Edward
Staichen, in his "Self-portrait with Brush and Palette, Paris,"
poses at the easel, with palette and paintbrushes in hand. O.
Winston Link poses with an assistant and his impressive array of
cords and lighting equipment in "Link and Thom with Night Flash
Equipment."

Margaret Bourke White, in "Self-portrait with Camera," shows
herself standing by her camera mounted on its tripod, at the ready,
with an air of self-confidence. Self-portraits can show human
beings’ pride in what they do.

Some artists define the self through the environment around
them. Louis Faurer, in his work titled "Self-portrait, 42nd Street
El Station looking towards Tudor City," shows himself reflected in
a series of windows which reflect some of the elements of mid-town
Manhattan in the background, including the Chrysler Building.

Still other artists define themselves through action, fantasy
and mortality. Eadweard Muybridge shows himself performing athletic
activities such as walking and swinging a pick in a series of step
by step photographs in "Animal Locomotion." Duane Michals, in
"Self-portrait as if I Were Dead," depicts himself laid out on a
gurney, while, dressed in black, he looks on as a mourner.

Robert Mapplethorpe, in one of his most famous works,
"Self-portrait," from 1988, announces his partnership with his own
approaching death (he died of AIDS-related causes in 1989) by
posing beside a skull topped cane. In this photograph, the body is
blacked out, blending in with the background so that only his head
and hand can be seen, along with the cane.

For Mapplethorpe, the progression from the earlier self-portrait
to the later one shows a marked change in self-definition. Whereas
the earlier work emphasizes the body, the later one makes the body
almost nonexistent. The earlier work has a feeling of freedom and
sensuality; the later one has a kind of quiet reserve. It shows the
seriousness of a man who knows that his time is limited.

Life is a journey, and we do change. A photograph can only
record an instant in that journey, but that instant can be filled
with much detail, both intentional and unintentional. In the
collection of Audrey and Stanley Irmas, we can gain greater insight
into that journey, into the artists and into ourselves.

"The Camera I." Displayed at Los Angeles County
Museum of Art through Oct. 23. Admission is $6 for adults, $4 for
students over 18 with ID, $1 for children under 18. For more info
call (213) 857-6000.