Thursday, July 3, 2008

Max Schumann at the Contemporary

If you haven't made it by the Contemporary to view Max Schumann's installation in the Front Room, I would highly recommend it. But there isn't much time left - this installation only runs through July 6.

Max Schumann has created a number of exquisitely well-crafted paintings depicting people from television ads (especially those for pharmaceuticals), photographs of soldiers in the Irag war, and other mass media images. Due to the nature of the subject matter, images are often repeated from one painting to another with some distinguishing characteristics identifying their place in an ongoing narrative.

Each painting is created on cardboard and can be purchased for a remarkably low price (between $1 and $10). When a painting is purchased, the cash used to buy it is pinned to the wall in lieu of the piece. This experience provides a wonderful commentary on our consumer culture and on the commodification of and our desensitization to visual stimuli within the mass media and advertising.

I purchased two pieces from the exhibit - one of a woman sleeping with the text "A full night = 8 hours" and "Lunesta" and another depicting a shirtless male torso with the text "dramatization".

No comments: