reviews, features & interviews
Alex Gartelmann’s words on the street
By roberta
June 21, 2008 · 3 Comments
It looks a bit like one of those signboards outside a church, the ones that give you a quip for the day and a reference to some bible passage. But Alex Gartelmann‘s new word art outside University of the Arts’ Hamilton Hall — all caps no punctuation and a sentiment that sums up the power dynamic in many relationships — is a passage of noirish sentiment right out of Raymond Chandler, and something that made heads turn for a second look and a read when I stopped by a week ago.
WHEN I TOLD YOU I
ACCEPTED THE BLAME
FOR EVERYTHING THAT
HAPPENED BETWEEN
US I LIED BECAUSE YOU
ARE EQUALLY
ACCOUNTABLE AND
YOU MOST CERTAINLY
KNOW IT
Gartelmann, one of the founders of My House gallery in South Philly, has other word pieces in his sculptural oeuvre. I find them fascinating because the sentiments they express are raw and psychologically-charged and completely unexpected in a realm as public as the street or gallery. Jenny Holzer’s charged personal-public words are an obvious point of comparison but, unlike Holzer’s Truisms, which are wickedly right on the money, Gartelmann’s personal and vulnerable outpourings are not maxims in the least.
You can see another one of his word pieces in the show Libby and I curated, ID, at Projects Gallery.
Tags: alex gartelmann
wow, thats all I can say. Have we really reverted to such travesty that an artist speaking his mind is prosecuted by the government? Oh my God! seriously, this makes me very very sad. Well I’m glad he made progress in his case at least but geezus….. I guess were not that much different than Russia’s ‘democracy’ where the government assassinates slowly all who disagree.. -Ed
Hi Ed, I assume you’re referring to Steven Kurtz in the previous post. Yes, that is indeed the horror of the story, that he was subjected to searches, seizures and arrest for simply making some art. The echoes of Russia are all over the story.
yes I was talking about the post about Kurtz, thank you… I’ll be back to read more of your blog…!