BE THERE
KerfufflesPresented by Claire Oliver September 5, 2008- October 4, 2008Reception: September 5, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pmPhyllis Bramson
Phyllis Bramson’s first critical acclaim came as a result of her involvement with the Chicago Imagists, a group known for their heavily ornamental work and total disregard of the New York art world. Drawing upon popular culture and comics, these artists did not appropriate or mock their conventions, but made art documenting it. Exuberant and irreverent, they took a healthy interest in sex, but did not dwell upon vulgarity to get attention. As with Imagists Art Green and Philip Hanson, Bramson’s work contains clear visual thinking, excellent draftsmanship and strong color skills. Conversing about longing, innuendo, and plans gone awry, the work talks back with capricious irritability about life lived. Bramson’s visual vocabulary includes clowns and devious rabbits, a black haired vamp often appears as a the artist herself, alluring Asian ladies in winter parkas, and the occasional snowman. Against wet colorfields, these elements of gift shop kitsch, postwar American middle class and cartoons from popular culture create an intimate handmade quality brimming with self conscience nostalgia. The Artist’s use of appropriated images calls into question distinctions between high and low art and reveals the insolvency of artistic hierarchies. Over the course of Bramson’s career, she has proved herself that rare artist who is unafraid to create change and explore new content. In what at first glance seem lighthearted metaphors, imagined events and fabricated conceits about life, Bramson continues to question distinctions between high and low art, while embracing ambiguity. Phyllis Bramson’s work is in the permanent collections of The New Museum of Contemporary Art, NYC, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, National Museum of American Art, Washington D.C. as well as many other major museums throughout the world. Among other notable accomplishments, she is a three time recipient of a NEA Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Tiffany Award. Kerfuffles will be the Artist’s third solo exhibition with Claire Oliver Gallery.
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