For anyone who has loved the theater—casually or intensely, whether as spectator, performer, or behind-the-scenes player—Zoe Brown-Weissmann’s recent solo exhibition at Viridian Gallery was visually stimulating. “Rapturous Delight,” showcases new multimedia assemblages by ZBW, who worked for decades as an acclaimed theatrical costume designer.
Costumes play a pivotal role in conjuring the irresistible magic of the theater. In the hands of a skilled designer, humble materials can give the appearance of sumptuous silken brocade. In Costume—a busy creative hive of sewing machines and dress forms, fittings and eleventh-hour understudy alterations—is all about alchemy and excited anticipation. In Costume is also the title of one ZBW assemblage, with its sister assemblage titled Five Minutes ’Till Curtain. Both evoke high-energy atmospheres with frenzied jumbles of textures (including soft plastic mesh bags that once contained fruits and vegetables), dramatically transformed by the application of acrylic paint.
With her years of experience in the dramatic milieu, ZBW honors not only the costume shop and opening night, but all theatrical triumphs and tribulations, on-stage and off. Layering on artful artifice like an actor applying pancake makeup, ZBW also pays tribute, with several assemblages, to a Broadway-bound Chicago stage production of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, whose central character, the drag performer Lady Chablis, knows a thing or three about artful artifice.
Approaching each ZBW assemblage as a 2-D “mood board,” it is great fun to get up close and discover the staggering amount of painstakingly collected objects she piles into her exuberant 3D compositions, with the unbreakable bravado of a show-biz veteran. By their sheer density, the assemblages leave quite an impression.
Costumes play a pivotal role in conjuring the irresistible magic of the theater
“Art is line, color, and texture,” ZBW explains. “For me, I’m focused on texture, I love texture. You can design a stunning costume, in beautiful lines and colors, but if it doesn’t have a compelling texture then you’re missing the whole point. When a performer walks onstage in costume, you need to know who that character is by what they are or are not wearing. Theater teaches us how to look. That visual acuity also guides us to experience each piece of art we encounter in a very personal way.”
The eyes have it in ZBW’s painting titled Bipolar Boogie Woogie, the artist’s take on that universal symbol of dramatic duality, the masks of Comedy and Tragedy. Layer upon layer of paint take center stage, building toward a crescendo of texture, without a shred of the artist’s familiar plastic mesh to compete for the spotlight. Note the cubist compilation of frenzied, popping eyeballs appearing to dart back and forth, up and down, as if motion-sick from a manic-depressive rollercoaster: a deeply felt depiction of the pain bipolar disorder inflicts on sufferers and their loved ones.
“The photographs don’t do them justice; they must be seen in person,” says exhibition curator Vernita Nemec, Viridian Gallery’s Director Emerita. An assemblage artist herself, Nemec was drawn to ZBW’s “incredible textures and colors, the objects she’s embedded in paint, which have created a whole new being, a unique approach to assemblage.” In one, aptly titled Sous Chef, wood and plastic kitchen utensils cover the surface, some peeking out of the pockets of an apron that’s also affixed to the board: a celebration of cooking as creative practice. Of course, artists wear aprons too, their pockets popping with paint brushes and other tools of the creative trade. ZBW looks in the mirror, sees an artist—and produces art that lets the viewer do the same. G&S
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