THE BIRCH JOURNAL REVIEW OF IRENE CAESAR'S SOLO SHOW AT THE HARRIMAN INSTITUTE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
Irene Caesar's solo show "Anthropretation" at the Harriman Institute of the Columbia University (September 10 - October 13, 2012) is reviewed by Georgia Lipkin in the Journal "The Birch" of the Columbia University.
Irene Caesar’s “Anthropretation”
By Georgia Lipkin
The Russian-American conceptual artist and philosopher Irene Caesar recently had an exhibition of her photography series “Anthropretation” at the Harriman Institute of Columbia University.
"Anthropretation" is a series of around ten images, or rather snapshots, that have been referred to as “conceptual role-plays.” These staged photographs - with their evocative images and ironic titles - encourage the viewer to both laugh out loud and cringe in disgust, blush at the overtly explicit and feel nagged by the quiet latency.
Both of these pieces, as is the case in all her work, provoke a dialogue with the viewer - whether it be a remark on the state of contemporary conceptual art, or an evocative and uncomfortable confrontation.
Caesar grew up in Russia during the 1960s. She studied at the Petrof Art School and later received a BA in philosophy from St. Petersburg University. An active member of the decedent movement in Russia, her work is a conceptual commentary upon a paradoxical and satirical world.
Caesar’s Anthropretation plays upon the same ambiguity, perhaps even disillusionment, as the 1950s literary movement Theater of the Absurd. There is a nonsensical and refreshing bluntness to her work, which seamlessly weds art to philosophy and pursues questions that at once span time and culture and yet feel pressingly contemporary. This series is a bag of analytic tools that Caesar uses to both examine and toy with our modern condition.
Irene Caesar’s website has more information about her artworks and philosophy. Also, an interview with Irene Caesar, where she discusses her ideas, can be found here.