Water Show

Jesse VandenBergh

BFA Thesis Water Show

Gerry Beegan

            The Water Show at the Zimmerli Art museum takes a subject that is present and necessary in our every day lives and addresses the various roles it plays in culture and history. The exhibition is presented in four rooms, each with a different aquatic theme. Rather than being displayed on a traditional white wall, the walls were painted teal and light shades of blue, further emphasizing the overall theme of water.

            The first room contained pieces such as Hans Haacke’s Condensation Cube, Lynn Davis’ Iceberg photos, and Maya Lin’s Dew Point sculptures. The main theme of this first room seemed to be primarily that of the water cycle. Condensation Cube is essentially a model of the water cycle. Lynn Davis’ Iceberg photos, specifically Iceberg II, contains an iceberg, the ocean, and the clouds in the composition. These are all three of the states in which water can be; solid, liquid and gas. Dew Point is comprised of multiple sized glass sculptures resembling water beads after a rainstorm or beads of condensation. It is located in the corner of the room, which according to the curator, is to protect the sculpture.

            The second room, while seemingly the simplest composition, was the most difficult to put together. The simplistic view of the spacing is the payoff to the hard work put into the layout of this room. The overall theme seemed to be that of civilization located near bodies of water. Maya Lin’s Pin River is the Hudson River and the Long Island Sound made entirely of pins. It took two days to assemble. Albert Bierstadt’s Waterfall is a beautiful realistic painting of a scenic waterfall. The waterfall creates a vertical white line down the landscape painting. There is also a painting of the New Brunswick train line when the city was first developing. The train line runs across the Raritan River.

            Room three is entitled Women in the Waves Men in Boats. It is an arrangement of paintings that play into the stereotype of men using bodies of water to conquer, explore and hunt such as Edward J. Steichen’s pieces. Women are portrayed as helpless and nude in the waves like Hughie Lee Smith’s paintings and portraits. This room had the clearest overall theme out of the four rooms. The pieces were arranged along the perimeter of the wall, with the exception of Steichen’s battle ship sculpture.

            The final room had a theme of artifacts and their relations to water. Diane Neumaier had an array of fountain photographs. The fountains were ornate, and intricately crafted. Atul Bhalla had an exhibit in this room entitled Immersions, which were ancient looking sand casts submerged in small water tanks. It almost seems as if these artifacts were originally discovered in the water, if they were indeed real artifacts.