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LITTLE PUGILISTSJanuary is the month new beginnings and resolutions, but it is also the start of a period of hibernation, when we begin the monotonous rituals of shoveling snow, slipping and sliding to and from work, and barricading ourselves inside our homes, going out only when necessary to combat cabin fever.
But there are other good reasons to get out. One of the most compelling is to see Stadium , a large-scale installation at SPACES by Brooklyn, N.Y. artist James Cullinane. The show is part of SPACES' World Artists Program, which brings artists from around the world to the gallery for six-week long residencies.
Cullinane's art appropriates imagery from children's exercise diagrams from mid-1940s Spain. During his residency in Cleveland, he scoured sign shops and industrial supply outlets to find materials to recreate images of children engaging in athletic activities. The most stunning piece is Jacob-Legna , a large-scale wall “drawing” composed of tens of thousands of steel tacks. The work is installed in a corner of the gallery, designed so that on the left an undistorted image appears, and on the right the same image is elongated, appearing as a shadow or reflection. Viewed up close, the image barely discernible, but from a distance, two entwined figures emerge, one atop the other.
Aside from the sheer beauty of the piece — from a distance it shimmers like a pointillist painting in silver — the ambiguity of the subject matter is fascinating. Two effeminate-looking boys appear to wrestle, the boy on top pinning his opponent to the ground. Yet their bodies commingle, and their expressions are blissful rather than strained. The imagery leaves you wondering whether the boys are wrestling or engaging in erotic activity.
In Grid for Sonny Liston, Cullinane pieces together two boxers out of enameled aluminum panels. The blindfolded boys are obviously mismatched — one is much larger, more powerful, and quite confident. The smaller boy sweats, appearing anxious as he waits to be pummeled by his smiling adversary. Cullinane instills a high degree of tension and emotion in his subjects, reflecting his interest in examining the indoctrination of children into sports culture. Anyone who dreaded phys. ed. in middle school can relate to the scrawny, anxiety-ridden figure in this piece.
Cullinane created a series of etched glass and vinyl works for the six windows on the back wall of the gallery. A boy and girl alternate windows; the boy climbs atop and hurdles a balance beam, while the girl fervently washes a window. As in Jacob-Legna, the artist distorts the image of the girl. Her figure is slightly different in each window: she appears warped, then bulging, and finally, narrowly elongated. The subtle figures (which are easy to miss, as they are outlined in white on standard windowpanes) are given dimension by what is outside of the window. The gray sky, the power lines, trees and the Detroit-Superior Bridge are seen in a new light through the simple yet animated line drawings.
The artist has made brilliant use of the architectural details in the rear gallery of SPACES; each work was carefully planned to fit flawlessly into the niches and corners of the space. One wall is noticeably bare; Cullinane will return to Cleveland later this month to finish several drawings to fill that empty space.
SPACES' World Artist Program, begun in 2002, is the most exciting thing to happen at the gallery in a long time. As artists from around the U.S. and the world live and work here, they are influenced by Cleveland's people, culture, industry and environment. Too often, we export artists from Greater Cleveland to work, create and study in New York, Chicago or Los Angeles. Kudos to SPACES for instituting a program that defies this longstanding trend.