Visions of an expatriate woman in various media Some Prefatory Remarks from the Museum’s Curator: Despite the rumors in certain newspapers, the paintings in this exhibit do not depict the story of one woman's life. It cannot be denied the artist has repeatedly stated that “D” (so designated here at the artist's request) was the subject of these works. I question, however, whether those statements alone can be taken as prima facie proof of the supposition that the artwork now on display was intended to present a biographical mise en scène. Though it may be tempting to view the exhibition as one which employs a cohesive and all encompassing schema (admittedly, a claim the artist has off-handedly made on occasion), in my opinion such an interpretation would ultimately prove misleading to all those who come to view this exhibit. For that reason, I want to warn anyone, who may have some preconception to the contrary, that this particular arrangement of the artist's work was more my doing, and that of my assistants, constrained as we were by budgetary and space limitations. Instead, I believe that these paintings properly should be seen as independent fragments connected only by the artist's desire to use D's life, her beliefs, ambitions, politics and personal tragedies, as a metaphor, a means of creating a higher mimesis than realism allows. One may freely surmise that certain elements of her life are presented here, but what those elements might be is best left to her future biographers, if any. We begin the exhibit with the artist's presentation of an expression of regret. In particular, note the subdued color palette which is often at odds with the strong confident lines and spare brushwork the artist employed here. 1st painting Title: She is a good girl because her daddy was a bad boy. She is speaking of emotional things, dangerous, simple and incomplete. Where she stayed when he left, times that she heard second-hand of his craziness, the laughter he shared then destroyed, the unknown quality of his face, tender in love one second and then fierce, heedless of others, heedless of his disgraces, confounding . . . And yes it’s futile, this recollection of the god of her empty places, the herald for the juxtaposition of a daughter’s love and hate and fear and pain. All the things she tried to tell him in the calm sedated times when hope felt like a possibility, not like the sour irony of his last leaving to his one and only resting place. Twenty years she still speaks of him to herself, speaks to him in the silent times when he comes back into her thoughts, and takes her away from the moments that seem like joy, and back to the only broken man who she can never release. Always she asks herself: Why couldn't he ever come home sane to us? Curator’s note on the second painting: The political undertones of this work are clearly established by the artist’s decision to adopt the style of the New Soviet Realism, with occasional surrealistic elements which add an absurdist touch. The depiction of the dictator here is not ambiguous, and one could perhaps say this best reflects D’s personal attitude. Clearly her influence on the artist can be seen in this decision, even though nothing about the finished piece hints at any specific biographical details. 2nd Painting Title: Attila prepares to go back to the spirit in the sky. He sits as a fat bug sits, fat with success and with his big cigars to which his women (he calls them his) never voice their objections. He smiles, always the smile shows, though weaker now and fading beneath the hair like Islam still jutting with pride from his chin. Old, far older than any others left in positions of power, or in opposition, he watches himself unfold each day like a movie, a frame at a time but too fast to prevent the smear that he makes on his time and his people. His people, all his, even the departed ones, he asserts like a child calling out to the world at large its whiny demands, not comprehending the difference between mine and yours. I understand he has long slender fingers that still maintain his spidery grip on the island. Does he look at them when the lights turn low and the movie enters an irresolute phase? He has always been clever and charming in his outward appearances, but what is he thinking so near to hearing the cheers, the “Oles!” that will arise at his death? Curator’s note on the 3rd painting: This is the most seriously flawed work in the exhibit and is only presented here at the insistence of the artist. Still, it has parts that some may find of interest, even if as a whole it can only be seen as a failure. 3rd Painting Title: Bad Hair and the Art of Creativity Maintenance. Nevermind, never ever does it matter, no more melancholia overit cause who cares, it's the thrill of the fall down the hole. It's building, light and airy and messed up conduction, like paper torn into pizzas, like glue on crayolas, it's new. it is WHat it is CanNot be KnoWn until we are Threw! UP UP UP and away in the sky it goes "It'll never fly" they suppose (and their right, cause it sinks, its sublimpable, it gets inside, it gets You would'nt under_stand Itt eye tell u hit's trooly incredulousable! IHATEIT ILUVIT ITMAKESMETURNBLUE!!!! BUt Somehow just Somehow, someONE just might get what you do & if they don't Nevermind, never ever does it matter, no more melancholia overit cause who cares, it's the thrill of the N E T that makes it all true. Curator’s note on the fourth painting: Aware of the controversy generated by some of the groups opposed to the exhibition of this work especially, let me assure you that nothing of a sexual nature is depicted. Nonetheless, some may find the artist’s rendering of traditional Christian beliefs and traditions objectionable. 4th Painting Title: Christ figures it out. God said Yehosha, you are my son but he wasn't listening back then, he just looked at the girl, what was her name? oh yeah - Mary (it's always a Mary) Magdalene (not a whore, just a groupie) the cute one, the one with the money. I mean he was a man, wasn't he? All man, human feelings maybe, even those itchy ones, like maybe for Mary? But you know fathers they keep with the lectures, they never stop talking, and well, eventually even a boy has to listen (maybe after an all night out drinking?) well, so they tell me - hey, it happens. And its hard not to hear with a head that keeps pounding until finally, finally that son word sunk in. But what does it all mean (this to the father) Well, he got the whole answer and he liked the part where he lives for forever. But what is this cross bearing thing have to do with that and Dad must have smiled when he said Nevermind - you''ll understand when you come to it (fathers are funny like that) The next time Christ comes though - just a thought, call me crazy, but I bet he sticks with the ladies.