Archive for March 13th, 2007

The sixth letter of the alphabet certainly carries a lot of weight. …Stop counting on your fingers—we’re talking about words that begin with the letter “F.” In What F Word?, at Cynthia Broan Gallery, curator Carol Cole Levin examines what the “F” word means to various female artists over the past forty-five years.

In many instances, the viewer is faced with determining the artist’s answer to the question. Brenda Oelbaum, for example, shows a woman painting her toenails on a rug depicting Osama Bin Laden. Interestingly, Oelbaum used a Jesus hooked rug kit to make Osama’s Bin Degraded. Is the artist commenting on freedom? After all, we’ve all been conditioned to believe, “The terrorists hate our freedom.” Or perhaps, by have a woman audaciously paint her nails (her toenails at that!) on the face of a terrorist, the artist is farcically mocking fear.

Perhaps, there is no set “F” word, but multiple meanings within each work:

Sabyna Sterrett in Flood, hand stitches pearls on fabric printed with fish (a Christian symbol of faith) to memorialize the devastating Easter flood in 1979 of the Pearl River that flows through Mississippi, the same river that was dragged for bodies during civil rights trials in the 60’s.

Within this single work, we face such “F” words as “flood,” fabric,” “fish,” and “faith.”

Other works, like Deborah Kass’ Quote Louise Bourgeois, appear more obvious, though the viewer may or may not agree with the viewpoint. The downward spiral of words read: “Woman has no place in the art world unless she proves over and over again she won’t be eliminated.” But just because a work has words on it, doesn’t mean it is clear or literal. Dana Frankfort very simply paints the word “Faith,” but there’s no indication as to what the artist’s opinion of this particular “F” word is. In a work such as this, the viewer’s perspective of the word is just as important as the artist’s to understanding the full implications of the word.

The thought-provoking exhibit uses photographs, video, painting, and sculpture to probe our culture’s ideals.

What F Word? raises more questions than it asks.

Female. Feminism. Fag. Flag. Foreign. Friend. Foe. Fascist. Force. Faith. Fundamentalism. Fanatic. Follower. Fear. Finances. Fire. Flood. Food. Fat. Fart. F**k. Fudge. Flip. Freak. Farce. Fact. Fiction. Freedom. Forgive.

Are these “F” words positive or negative? Why do they have so much power behind them? Should a word like “feminism” be equated with a swear word? What about the word “faith”? Does it really make a difference whether you exclaim “fudge,” “flip,” or “freak,” when everyone knows what you really mean?

I have never had a bad time at any Upright Citizen’s Brigade event and last night was no exception. Comedian Aziz Ansari hosts an amazing night of fresh comedy. Though other comedians perform sets. Ansari is the star of the show, showing clips of his upcoming MTV sitcom, “Human Giants”, reading from unproduced terrible sitcom scripts that he must have found in Los Angeles trash cans, and performing comedy in an unscripted, off the cuff way that is rarely scene in NYC’s comedy scene. Ansari is smart and provocative, bravely using comedy to comment on the most taboo topics. He succeeds across the board, somehow walking the line between offensive and funny with grace and wit.

Ansari is relaxed and confident on stage, enjoying himself as much as the audience enjoys him, and telling stories from his life that are funny because of Ansari’s talent as a story teller, not necessarily because the stories are funny in and of themselves. But this is a relief. There is nothing staged, no corny punch lines, no stale stand up routines. Ansari and his guests are simply being themselves; self deprecating, sarcastic and fun loving. The result is one of the most enjoyable comedy shows I’ve seen, and best of all its completely free! The only downside was a late start to an already late (11pm) show, but this was quickly forgiven when the hilarity finally began.

The place is packed with alternative comedy lovers and UCB groupies. There is definitely an “insider” feel to everything; the same people clearly come to Ansari’s show week after week. But instead of being intimidating or uncomfortable, the community feel is comforting, and random UCB-ers were introducing themselves to me all night long, so that I, too, could feel part of the club. Add to all this the fact that you can drink beer or wine throughout the whole show, and its clear there is no reason at all to not attend “Crashtest” every single week. Ansari is growing in popularity and is probably close to beoming a mainstream, well known comedian, so catch this fantastic event now, before his show airs and he becomes a household name!