Janaina Tschape: Between the Sky and the Water at Sarasota Art Museum

"Swamp Eating the Moon" (2018)  Casein and colored pencil

If curiosity killed the cat, I'm well and truly safe. At least, that is, when it comes to contemporary art.  If I'm immediately attracted to a work, I'm in. But if that little spark doesn't ignite, I'll just pass it by. 

Having made that confession, you'll understand my slight bit of concern when a friend suggested I read the catalogue for the Janaina Tschape exhibit before heading over to Sarasota Art Museum. Suffice it to say that the essay began with a long quote by Nietzsche. I felt I was in way over my head. 

So I thought to myself, "Self, how about looking at what the Museum itself says about the exhibit?" Here goes: "Recurring themes persist -- Kafkaesque metamorphosis and transformation, a feminist resistance to the perpetual policing of the female body, a collapsing of scale undifferentiating the grand cosmos from the infinitesimal cellular, an excavation of the nature of landscape -- but always, most importantly, an exploration of painting as a way of understanding the world." Yikes. 

"The Girl and the Swan" (2017) Casein and watercolor pencil

And so I went with a more tried and true approach -- going to the exhibit with friends and talking about what we saw. It was the perfect way to see the show. 

When we entered the exhibit, we encountered "Swamp Eating the Moon." I wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Deb said the work made her think of Gaudi's architecture. I could see that. The darker areas reminded me of caves and made me think of Cappadocia's caverns. Now, looking at the title as I sit at my desk, I can see the concept of the swamp overtaking its environment. (The Museum doesn't use wall cards, allowing visitors instead to approach the art without any preconceived notions. I'm not a fan of this approach. While there are gallery guides with images and titles of the works, many people don't pick them up. Isn't the title information the artist wants viewers to have? But I digress.)  

Tschape's "The Girl and the Swan" immediately drew me in. Her use of casein, a water-based paint, gives the painting a light and airy feeling, and her girl seems to flow right off the canvas and into the gallery. While I see the swan referenced in the title of the work, I also see the head of a man looking over the girl's shoulder. What are his intentions? 

From "Four Seasons" (2014) Casein and watercolor pencil

Tschape's "Four Seasons (Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn)" generated a lot of conversation. This was one instance when not knowing the title in advance was helpful, as we talked about which season each work called to mind. We had different opinions about the painting shown here. For me, the icy blues called to mind winter; for Libbie the tones evoked water and summer. I could also see spring in the image with the orange and pink pops of color being flowers emerging from the ground. From there, we segued into a hilarious conversation about having our colors done back in the '80s. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, don't worry.) For the record, the work shown here is "Winter."