photo: courtesy of Melanie Schiff; "Spit"
According to its website, the
Whitney Biennial "characterizes the state of American art today." It's a bold statement, but considering that, since 1932, the museum has opened its doors to the strongest working American artists, we're going to quietly agree. This year, Chicago-born and -based artist
Melanie Schiff, who's represented by
Kavi Gupta Gallery, is one of two Chicagoans (the other is Jennifer Montgomery) at the Biennial. Working mostly in photography, her quiet images evoke everyday occurrences: love's sentimental side, the power of spaces and that "perfect moment," like in "Spit," where a person playfully spews forth water.
Why do you work mostly in photography?
I took a lot of art classes; I was always drawn to it. When I took photography, it resonated differently with me. I think some of it is being able to construct something that's fictional but also representational. So in the same sense of it, it's more like this idea of something idealized—where it's that perfect moment. I'm making something like that that resonates with real experience, but resonates differently than figurative painting. And the accessibility of it is really important to me—everyone takes photographs. So it's almost like a different language to communicate in. Not everyone understands the language of painting, not that I want to be down on painting. But it's like your grandma—everyone takes photos. It's part of visual culture.
And photography is empowering to women; there's stuff about the female gaze through the lens, the idea of the voyeur, the objectified. But also just looking historically, there are all these famous female photographers—even more than men. It's weirdly gendered, and that's something important to me.
Tell me about the work you're going to show at the Whitney.
I'm having five pieces in the Whitney. Well, it's really more like four pieces but one of them is a two-panel diptych. Most of the work was at my MCA 12x12, and then there's a brand-new photo called "Reflecting Pool;" it's on my website. They're less performative, and more maybe about spaces and what those spaces resonate, then about them being performative.
So, if I were to come to your neighborhood, where would you insist I visit?
I would say the J&M Tap. It's a little dive bar. It's kinda my favorite bar in the city, so. It's a neighborhood bar. It's a quintessential Chicago dive bar, and it's located on the corner. I haven't been there since they put the ban on smoking, so it's one of those things—where it's hard to imagine a dive bar without people smoking cigarettes.
What other Chicago artists are you looking at?
Tony Tasset. John Parot, who recently had a show at Western Exhibitions. William J. O'Brien, he shows at Shane Campbell Gallery. Craig Doty's work—he'll be in a 12x12 at the MCA in March 2008. Julia Hechtman, who worked at the Art Institute, though she recently moved to Boston. Danielle Gustafson-Sundell, who also shows at Kavi Gupta Gallery.
