A List
10/18/04

EXHIBITION OF ART FROM FORMER EAST GERMANY IN SLU GALLERY

CANTON – Works by two artists from the former German Democratic Republic 
(GDR, or East Germany) will be on exhibition in St. Lawrence University's 
Richard F. Brush Art Gallery from Thursday, November 4, through Saturday, 
December 11.
	"The Dragon, the Virgin and the Grandstand" (Der Drache, die Jungfrau 
und die Tribune), an installation by Suse Weber, and "Stroll" (Ausflug), 
photographs by Jan Bleicher, are included in the exhibition. A discussion with 
the artists will be held in the gallery on Monday, November 8, at 7 p.m.; it 
is open to the public, free of charge.
	Writing about the exhibition, St. Lawrence Assistant Professor of 
Gender Studies Joel J. Morton states, "In contemporary Germany, Übergangsgeneration 
is a colloquial term that refers to the transitional generation of East 
Germans who came of age in the communist GDR prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall. 
Weber was born in 1970 in Leipzig, the city described as the epicenter of the 
'peaceful revolution' of 1989. Bleicher was born in 1966 in East Berlin, the 
capital of the former GDR. Like others from this generation, Weber and Bleicher 
learned professions in the east and, when the Wall came down, were forced to 
re-orient themselves to radically changed circumstances. Neither Weber, trained 
as a kindergarten teacher, nor Bleicher, trained as a plumber, has held a 
permanent position in those professions. Since 1990, Weber has moved through 
a series of off-the-books, part-time jobs, including construction, art 
installation and shoe sales, while Bleicher usually works in construction as 
a manual laborer. Today, most East Germans remain economically and socially 
marginalized. Despite massive investment and the
rapid transfer of West German political, economic and cultural structures into 
the east, the region's unemployment rate hovers at 20 percent. 
	"It is under these difficult circumstances that Weber and Bleicher 
create their art. Each responds differently to the disappearance of the nation 
in which they were born and the more recent commodification of life under 
capitalism. Whereas Weber's installations examine the memory of and nostalgia 
for life in the GDR, using artifacts such as military uniforms, household 
products and national symbols, Bleicher's photographs make no direct 
reference to the past and instead depict contemporary urban buildings and 
parks usually devoid of people. Weber's installation draws together elements 
of fantasy, folklore, commerce and sport. Structured to resemble a grandstand 
or medals podium in a sports stadium, the installation critiques the use 
of sports spectacle in the service of nation-building, whether communist 
(as in the case of the former GDR) or capitalist (as in the case of the 
United States, especially during a year which includes both the Olympic 
Games and a presidential campaign). On the other hand, in 'Stroll,' 
Bleicher observes the world from the point of view that might be described 
as that of a stray dog wandering through a park. On view are images 
of thick, lush shrubbery in its deep stillness, vacant architectural 
structures, or anonymous tourists equipped with cameras of their own."
	For more information or to arrange individual or group tours, 
contact the gallery at 315-229-5174.

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The Richard F. Brush Art Gallery
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