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HOUSE AND GARDEN
REVIEW
ART IN AMERICA MAY 2004 / SUE TAYLOR
OBJETS TROVE AT KRISTEN FREDERICKSON CONTEMPORARY ART, NEW YORK CITY
LISA CAPONE'S SMALL-SCALE SCULPTURES ARE TALISMANIC.
SUSPENDED IN AIR, WALL MOUNTED OR DISPLAYED IN VITRINES,
THEY GLEAM ATTRACTIVELY WHILE INSPIRING UNEASE. AT THE
CENTER OF THIS EXHIBITION, A FOOT LONG SILVER LANCE OR
DART, UNTITLED (CLOSER AND CLOSER APART), 2000, RESTED
IN A PLEXIGLASS CASE. SHEATHED IN A GOSSAMER CACOON OF
THE FINEST SILVER THREAD, THE DART RESEMBLES SOME RARE
ENTOMOLOGICAL SPECIMEN OR, WITH ITS EXPOSED POINT, A
MENACING WEAPON. IMPEDIMENTS + SUPPORT (2003) SEEMED
LESS AMBIGUOUS BUT JUST AS BEAUTIFUL, COMPRISING A SHARP
THORN, PRICKLY THISTLE AND TORTUOUS ROOT, ALL CAST IN
SILVER FROM LIFE. CAPONE'S TITLE ILLUMINATES THE METAPHORICAL
VALUE OF THESE ELEMENTS; HER JEWELER'S ESTHETIC ALLOWS US
TO IMAGINE THE THORN, FOR EXAMPLE, AS AN ECCENTRIC LAPEL
PIN THAT COULD DRAW BLOOD.
ABOUT 100 WISHBONES MAKE UP ACCRETION (2003). HEAPED ON A
PEDASTOL, THE INTACT WISHBONES ARE PERFECT WISH OPPORTUNITIES
FORGONE FOR THE SAKE OF ART. THE ENTANGLED SILVER FEMALE FIGURES
IN LITTLE WOMEN (2003), EACH ONLY 3 INCHES LONG, MUST BE CLOSELY
STUDIED BEFORE THEIR IMPERFECTIONS ARE REVEALED: ONE LACKS A
HEAD, ANOTHER ARMS; A THIRD HAS ARMS THAT ARE BROKEN. WITH HER
DEFT USE OF INTIMATE SCALE, CAPONE DEMANDS ATTENTIVE LOOKING.
MAGNIFYING GLASSES SHOULD ACCOMPANY HER WATERCOLORS,
ESPECIALLY UNTITLED (SUICIDE SERIES), 2003, FIVE SHEETS WHOSE
CENTRAL PROTAGONIST IS A WOMAN IN A BLACK LACE SLIP. WITHOUT
CAPONE'S SUBTITLE, THE TINY DROPS OF RED AT THE FIGURE'S WRIST
AND ANKLES IN SOME OF THESE SPARE IMAGES MIGHT GO UNNOTICED.
THE VIOLENCE HERE IS SO UNDERSTATED THAT ONE MUST SEARCH
FOR IT, AS WELL AS FOR ITS MEANING.
WHY ARE THE RUNNING SILVER LEGS IN THE WALL-MOUNTED DIAMETRIC
MOTION (2003) MISSING A BODY? THIS UNNERVING AVATAR OF FEMALE
DAMAGE AND / OR POWER PROVED SO COMPELLING TO ONE VIEWER
THAT IT WENT MISSING FROM THE EXHIBITION, TO BE RECOVERED LATER
BY POLICE DETECTIVES. LIKE NANCY SPERO'S SPRINTING WOMEN, CAPONE'S
PARTIAL FIGURE SEEMS ENERGETIC AND FLEET, BUT HALF OF HER HAS BEEN
LEFT BEHIND IN THE NIGHMARE FROM WHICH SHE HAS FLED. IF ALL OF THESE
WORKS SOMEHOW RELATE TO THE ARTISTŐS EMOTIONAL LIFE, THEN IN DELUGE
(2001) SHE FINALLY REIGNS TRIUMPHANT. HERE, STRANDS AND STRANDS OF
CYLINDRICAL GLASS BEADS FORM A SPARKLING COLUMN, CASCADING FROM
THE CEILING AND TERMINATING IN A SWIRLING, MOPLIKE BASE TO THE FLOOR.
A FEMININE SENTINEL OF SORTS, A PILLAR OF SHIMMERING GLASS RATHER
THAN SALT, THE PIECE SEEMS A STAND-IN FOR THE ARTIST, RADIANTLY
ENJOYING THE LIMELIGHT.