I Dig a TONY

Since its video collection is a point of pride for the Everson Museum of Art, it’s fitting that video takes, ahem, center stage at TONY 2012: The Other New York. Some of that video is quite disturbing, too, but that’s no reason not to visit the downtown art mecca. In fact, the next few weeks provide the perfect time: It’s winter break for many, and the show closes Jan. 6. See it while you can.

Several of the adjunct exhibits meant to complement TONY 2012 have already been written about in these pages, such as a dual exhibition at Syracuse University’s Light Work Gallery and Fearless Eye at ArtRage Gallery. Now we come to the art center where the project organizer, Debora Ryan, works as senior curator. The work of 23 of the 63 total artists for all the TONY exhibits is displayed at the Everson.

“The artists have made bold creative leaps in their work for the Everson installation,” says Ryan, “pushing beyond traditional media and gallery spaces. Visitors will be delighted with video installations, photography, sculpture and more.”

Like all good art, that displayed here is meant to be seen and reseen. Study what’s inside the two main galleries at the Everson, and perhaps go back and study again. The videos, especially, warrant a thorough viewing, so plan a longer-than-usual visit; otherwise, you’ll be missing out. 

Especially noteworthy is “Mural #1” by Lynn Schwarzer. At first glance, you see what looks like a mural from a biology class, with sketches in white on a long black, horizontal background. Those sketches, in and of themselves, are pretty cool to look at and admire for their detail. But for the real details, pick up the handy copy of Field Notes for Mural #1 next to the piece for explanations of what you’re looking at. Is the image what you first thought it was?

The same thought could apply to the 18 pillows dangling nearby from the ceiling. Each pillowcase shows someone asleep, and each pillow illuminates as you walk underneath it. “While You Were Sleeping” could apply to you, or to the subject on the pillowcase.

“Citystream” is an 18-minute video installation of scenes throughout the Syracuse urban core. Buildings projected onto the wall will seem all too familiar to longtime residents, and the shots of the abandoned Cinema North movie house, located at Kmart Plaza near Mattydale, and Kennedy Square, along East Washington Street, will evoke nostalgia. By applying a colorful, Impressionist texture to the images, artist Jason Bernagazzi gives the images a lovely look that hides the reality of what once was while being hopeful about what could be.

Inside the second gallery, photographs by John Wesley Mannion and AREA are equal parts amusing and disturbing. Two men wearing what could be HazMat suits are photographed in public places: near the Brooklyn Bridge, in Central Park, in Jamesville (above), standing near the fountain in the Everson’s Community Plaza while a cocktail party takes place, its attendees seemingly unaware. Spend some time looking at each photo—they’re quite large—for crowd reactions to the white-clad visitors. The depth of human emotion is remarkable in this chilling series.

While every item in this exhibit is worthwhile and quite compelling, two more installations in the second gallery deserve a good amount of study time. In the far corner stands Ellen Blalock’s “Cage,” a video installation that includes super-sized quilts of African-American men (see detail above), a wooden apparatus that could be a pulpit, a witness stand inside a courtroom or a podium. Inside a video runs continuously, but you need to bend down in order to avoid hitting your head when you enter the space. Does having to cower mean something? Visit the installation to see how you feel about it.

The most unsettling video in TONY 2012 was created by Anneka Herre. The contrast between black and white, and the annoying sounds of insect buzzing—or is it?—are used to startling effect in In Order to Survive Ourselves: Transgenesis 2 (Dead of Dawn). It’s as compelling to watch as a train wreck (albeit in a good way), and the effects just as lingering (it’s been three weeks and I still can’t erase it from the gray matter).

While most of the collaborating TONY 2012 exhibitions are no longer on display, a few remain. The Onondaga Historical Association, 321 Montgomery St., shows Last House, a multi-channel video installation by media artist Carl Lee, accompanied by three paintings of vacant houses in Syracuse. Out in Cazenovia, Stone Quarry Hill Art Park continues showing outdoor sculptures. Both displays, as well as TONY 2012 at the Everson, run through Jan. 6.  

The Everson Museum of Art, 401 Harrison St., is open Tuesdays through Sundays from noon to 5 p.m., although it is closed on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Suggested donation is $5. For more information, call 474-6064 or visit eversonmuseum.org.