World Peace
Photo/Dave Revette.
a chronology, she leaves us with an anach-
ronistic jumble, a seemingly bewitched
thrift shop where anything that might be
of interest has been ruined by a thick coat
of paint.
Fortunately, not every
détournement
leads to the bazaar. A room-size installation
of disparate works from the past two de-
cades entitled
World Peace: Finding Comnto
Î
Ground (W e’re AH in This Together, Do Unto
Others, Tour Move!),
takes on a unified gran
deur because of the integrated employment
of objects, pedestals, repainting, and con-
cept. In
World Peace,
preexisting sculpture^
based largely on the human torso, have
been turned into monumental chess pieces
and then staged on a circular checkerboard.
Here, a new cloak of paint furthers con-
ceptual meaning: The work’s achromatic
scale, black to white, encompasses both
opposition and a coming together in the
gray shades of compromise.
Although most of the exhibition is
mounted in two of the main, white-box gal
leries, various works are sited throughout
the Everson’s three levels. Several of the
most assured sculptures are placed so that
they interact with the museum’s architec-
ture, a monolithic structure designed by
I. M. Pei that features bush-hammered,
*
Y
poured-concrete walls and granite-aggre-
gate flooring. Works like
Triad, Legacy
and
Safety in Numbers
are enhanced through
dialogue with the building’s geometry, pal-
ette and texture.
A complicating component of this exhi-
bition is the way it highlights the mechanics
of gallery display. How the works are
presented, the manner of their accumula-
tion, their
mise en scène,
assumes an impor-
tance that equals, or even eclipses, our
encounters with any single object. Does
this point to a lack of confidence on the part
of the artist (One is never enough)? Or
is it the result of an exuberant maximalism
(If one is good, three must be better)?
This might be the spot to cite the familiar
Miesian caution, “Less is more,” but his
dictum has been successfully countered by
other artists on many occasions. A t her
best, Jurs does balance formal and concep-
tual interests, permitting her objects to
speak without an overreliance on gimmick-
ry; those installations sing. Her voice falters
when indulgent or uncertain collections of
ideas and practices overwhelm any attempt
for appreciation.*
Opposite: Jurs with
A rtist Statement: M y
L ife Has Gotten So Busy
That It Now Takes Up
A llo fM y Time,
2008,
lint, mesh {h. 18 ft, w.
23ft,d. 6 in).
Top:
D éjà Vu: Fifty
Pieces, Fifty Tears
( Separate and Equal),
2007, detail, pottery,
sculpture, artifacts,
mixed-media {h. 10 ft,
w. 40 ft, d. 15 ft).
Bottom:
IVorld Peace:
Finding Common
Ground ( W e ’re A ll in
This Together, Do Unto
Others, Tour M ove!),
2008, stoneware, paint
{h. 8 ft,dia. 23 ft).
apr/maj'09 american craft 037
