OCTOBER 8, 2009
The New Yorker
REBECCA MEAD: MRS. ZIZMOR AS AN ARTIST
After she married Dr. Jonathan Zizmor, the subway skin doctor, nine years ago, Alexandra Zizmor earned a certain degree of celebrity, thanks to an advertisement her husband placed, as is his custom, in the subway, which featured her image along with his. In a Talk story that chronicled their courtship and explained the advertisement’s genesis, Mrs Zizmor explained that was suddenly being recognized by all kind of folks, including the delicatessen guy at Fine and Shapiro.
Next week, however, Mrs. Zizmor will be celebrated in her own right, as an artist: her début show opens at the Derfner Judaica Museum at the Hebrew Home in Riverdale. Entitled “Shana: My Muse,” the show features mixed-media images of Shana, Mrs. Zizmor’s Great Dane, engaged in various activities, such as carrying a bag from Bergdorf Goodman and lighting Hannukah candles. (One image, showing Shana alongside a single weeping eye, is titled, “I Cried Because I Had No Milk-bones, Then I Met a Dog Who Had No Food.”) According to Mrs. Zizmor, “These whimsical images with sassy titles are not only intended to strike the funny bone of the viewer but also suggest the need to personify these furry companions in an increasingly alienated society.” Opens October 13 through January 10
Exhibition Review
Shana My Muse: Assemblage Works by Alexandra Zizmor
By Elizabeth Destin
New York, 9 October 2009 – The newest exhibition at the Derfner Judaica Museum featuring the work of Alexandra Zizmor can best be described as a synthesis of whimsy, wit and macabre. Her mixed media assemblages recall the delicate charm of Stettheimer, the childlike playfulness of Twombly and the cerebral irony of Ernst.
Using her dog Shana as muse, Zizmor presents commonplace activities in playful, often unexpected, ways. In Smoking May Be Hazardous to Your Health, 2009, for example, the anthropomorphized Shana is shown standing–naturally in high heels–holding a cigarette like a teacher holds a pointer. Next to her, Zizmor has adhered a list of statistics on tobacco use in a manner that harkens back to old-fashioned blackboard pedagogy. This work at once recalls the everyday practice of teaching but also the irony and intelligence of its artist; not only is our teacher of the canine variety but also lectures on quite the unusual classroom subject. The title of the work offers an additional element of significance and layer of meaning.
Zizmor’s extensive knowledge of art history is a prominent feature in her oeuvre. Not only does she reference Picasso’s signature fracturing of form and harlequin color palette but also his early 1930s artist and model etchings. Similar to Picasso’s artist and model series, in Zizmor’s Self-Portrait, 2009, the painter is rendered in a higher tenor of abstraction than the image on the canvas, which depicts a photographic likeness.
Another striking characteristic of Zizmor’s assemblages is their infusion of self-referential narratives. As Wegman used his dog Man Ray to insinuate the surrogate self-portrait so too does Zizmor image herself through Shana. In Simkah Torah at HIR, 2009, for example, Shana is seated and holding a pink, bedazzled Torah. Not only does this work present a whimsical illustration of a traditional religious practice but also speaks to the artist’s spirituality and self-positioning.
In lieu of signing her work, Zizmor adheres a plastic fly to each scene as a symbol for her greatest desire—”to be a fly on the wall.” Furthermore, the fly, with its short life span, is associated with decay and its presence in Zizmor’s work elucidates this darker undercurrent. Flies are a recurrent trope in the vanitas still life paintings of the Dutch Masters, employed to evoke the transience of life and imminence of death. Zizmor’s fly echoes this symbolism, not only reminding us of life’s impermanence but asking us to revel in its whimsy.
Press Release:
Shana: My Muse
Assemblage Works by Alexandra Zizmor
Opening Reception + Artist’s Talk: October 13, 6:30-8 pm, Elma and Milton A. Gilbert Pavilion Gallery
On view through January 10, 2010
The Hebrew Home at Riverdale is pleased to announce its latest exhibition, Shana: My Muse/Assemblage Works by Alexandra Zizmor, featuring the mixed media works of Bronx resident Alexandra Zizmor. Using found materials, ink, paint and collage, Zizmor depicts a naively rendered Great Dane performing various activities in a minimal stage-like setting. These whimsical assemblages reference modern art masters, fashion styles, and leisure time activities. Yet, a dead fly strategically placed suggests a vanitas theme, as does the black knobbed frames, alluding to the Northern Renaissance painting tradition.
Zizmor’s chosen subject, her Great Dane, Shana, reflect the artist’s belief that of all animals, dogs most closely resemble their human counterparts in behaviors and attitude. She writes that she “draws inspiration from the spirit and joie de vivre of my Great Dane, Shana,” and that the personification of these animals grows more important “in an increasingly alienated society.” Zizmor holds an M.A. in Connoisseurship of Twentieth Century Art from Christie’s. She is a self-taught artist who has been influenced by art brut, or outsider art. Her work reflects the blithe spirit she sees in her Great Dane, imbuing her pictures with a fanciful and lighthearted quality.
The exhibition will be on view through January 10, 2010 in the Elma and Milton A. Gilbert Pavilion Gallery and is open daily from 10:30 am – 4:30 pm free of charge. As a member of the American Association of Museums, The Hebrew Home at Riverdale is committed to publicly exhibiting its art collection throughout its 19-acre campus, including a sculpture garden overlooking the Hudson River and Palisades.