Dan Gunn

Marcelino Stuhmer presents several portraits of Puerto Rican actor Henry Silva as the various ethnic villains he has portrayed, whether Japanese, Italian, Korean or Robert Kennedy’s assassin, Sirhan Sirhan. Each depiction is rendered especially for the character, i.e., scruffy paint and sun-scorched colors for Silva’s gunslinger. Together these paintings show a history of ethnic incompetence in film and hint at larger questions at stake in the work. The twelve-foot tall, ten-sided painting-in-the-round, "The Unending Dream," is a throwback to Victorian panoramic painting. The circle contains sequential but edited screenshots from a dream sequence in 1962’s "The Manchurian Candidate." As the camera pans around a room the character’s brainwashing wears off turning the surrounding aristocratic women into Communist military officers. The stills form a bluish whirl where gentle and wavering brushstrokes draw attention to the detail in each frame. Viewing the piece makes one aware that she/he takes the role of the camera and removes the passivity of spectatorship. It is the unceasingly appealing nature of Mr. Stuhmer’s hand that validates the panoramic approach and allows the time-based experience to richly grow.

Marcelino Stuhmer shows at The Chicago Cultural Center, 78 East Washington, (312)744-6630, through April 6. (2008-02-19)

Also by Dan Gunn

Tip of the Week
A black speaker peeks out from within a black satin pillow—this is Matthew Girson’s new audio work, "The Sleep (of Reason Produces Monsters, I Think)." The piece excerpts the line, "I think, therefore I am not," from Maurice Blanchot’s book "Thomas l’obscur." Spoken, the phrase takes three seconds to recite. Girson elongates it to eight days, and the words get lost in a discordant gurgle and hum
(2007-12-26)

Profile of the Artist
Artist David Coyle’s work currently shows at Gallery 40000 on Peoria Street—we caught up with him to discuss his work
(2007-12-11)

Eye Exam
"The New Authentics: Artists of the Post-Jewish Generation" at the re-vamped Spertus Museum is truly an ambitious inaugural effort. The exhibition is Staci Boris’ first as head Spertus Museum curator, a fifteen-year veteran of the MCA. "The New Authentics" christens a glistening new art space within the Spertus Institute
(2007-12-04)

Tip of the Week
Andrea Myers' show finds the artist nimbly using her familiar tools, albeit sparingly. Myers builds her work through the layering or stacking of tinted paper and fabric
(2007-11-27)

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