A Call to Introspection: Rosalind Fox Solomon's 'Got to Go' Questions the Necessity of H
Having crafted a career that spans nearly five decades, multimedia artist and photographer Rosalind Fox-Solomon is lauded amongst her creative contemporaries and art world aficionados alike. Fox-Solomon retains and tirelessly reinvents the fearless curiosity that inspires the brilliant and bewildering aspects of her work. Pushing viewers to discern the extent to which individual projections are manipulated by social codes and pathological prejudices, we are faced with beckoning questions. Is the whole of society operating under an oppressive spell that serves to conceal the dissonant chord within each of us? Fox Solomon's images inspire the viewer to interpret this truth for themselves.
Contemporaneous with the release of her recent book Got to Go, Bruce Silverstein Gallery is presently hosting the artists' fourth solo exhibition. Parallel to the book, the inventiveness of this immersive multimedia installation is formidably matched by its psychological poignancy. The exhibition includes thirty varied portraits spanning from the 1970's to the present, in addition to a three-channel projection with roughly forty images and audio. The sound component consists of a funeral chant crossed with Fox Solomon's voice and extracts from Jason Eckardt's arrangement, Tongues, enacted by Tony Arnold and the International Contemporary Ensemble. Such a curiously arranged production is freighted with insight and emotional genius.
Among the most fascinating aspects of the photos, which range in shape and size, is how uncannily they prompt the viewer to explore their own emotional narrative in relation to the projections that we cast on the narratives of others.
Of the affecting selection, two photographs in particular have juxtaposed themselves along the walls of my mind; "Got to Go" and "No Title". In "Got to Go'", the well heeled, Anglo Saxon female subject luxuriates in a pristine bubble bath, her skin glistens with pearlised foam, and her impeccably manicured hands bear the weight of brilliant baubles. Her exaggeratedly surprised expression emanates the kind of entitlement long associated with the stereotypically callous and cavalier constituents of society's upper crust. On the contrary, "No Title" demonstrates a bare breasted, middle-aged African female subject in a humble, urban setting surrounded by adoring children. Somehow, amidst her seemingly poverty-stricken circumstance, she scintillates with the kind of strength and joy that only comes through non material acquisitions such as motherhood and healthy human relationships.
Fox Solomon cleverly uses setting to articulate the integrity of each woman's emotional infrastructure. The admiration and adoration that the subject in "No Title" receives from the surrounding children seems to grant her a meaningful sense of pride and worth that trumps the flimsy veneer of self gratification conveyed by the model in "Got to Go".
Throughout her career, Fox Solomon has committed her work to dismantling the psychological constructs and cultural norms that imprison the beautiful and bizarre aspects of humanity. While these boundaries are crucial to individual and societal preservation, Fox Solomon has spearheaded an universally introspective journey that beckons us to reconsider the infrastructure of our own boundaries, and perhaps re-negotiate them. To the individual who is curious about this emotional exploration, Got to Go is an unparalleled experience.
Rosalind Fox Solomon: Got to Go runs until April 16, 2016 at Bruce Silverstein Gallery
535 West 24th Street
New York
http://www.brucesilverstein.com
Constance Victory Small
