TEXT
/ PULICATION EXERPTS / WRITINGS
Sheryl
Simons, BIRTH OF AN ART SUPERNOVA.
If
you checked out the art fairs last week, then you
must have witnessed the superbly crafted paintings
by newcomer, Sheryl Simons. Her work was presented
by three major galleries (in New York, Chicago,
and Berlin). Word has it that the recent graduate
of Columbia's MFA program didn't even pick up a
paintbrush until four years ago when she "got
drunk in a friend's studio and started messing around."
The rapturous result is a mixture of illuminated
manuscript meets Playboy centerfold (each lady equipped
with cell phone and ipod) frolicking in a Fragonard-like
landscape. Simon's work is the kind that takes some
time to figure out, but you don't mind because the
paintings are so lush and evocative that you want
to linger on them for as long as it takes, and maybe
even a bit longer.
If your memory is showing you Simon's paintings
in the shadowy (or, brightly lit) walls of an art
fair booth, then your memory needs stronger light.
Sheryl is a fabrication; a personal experiment.
I've often wanted to create a character, tailor-made
for how the art world really works -- to see if
and how much we all take part in the mechanism of
art stardom, consciously or not.
If I had launched Sheryl Simons out into the world,
with no tangible evidence to back up my claim, would
people begin to talk? Does it just take one small
write-up to convince people, sight unseen, that
a new talent has arrived and that someone is a force?
Would it lead to gallery and museum curators making
frustrated phone calls, trying to track down this
newest young artist who is sure to generate press,
prestige, and money? Would we all salivate at the
notion of becoming her friend, of being in-the-know,
of being near the next Big Thing?
I suppose we can still try and find out. Maybe we
could casually mention Sheryl's work in conversations
about art. I think I'll speak highly of her use
of sinewy figures -- how they take on seductive
positions while throwing cold glances; how her use
of old techniques is perfectly balanced by her renderings
of the latest technology. Everyone is welcome to
join the experiment. I have the feeling doors might
open for Sheryl that others have fought years to
have barely cracked.
In the end, when the absence of Sheryl Simons exhibits
has become evident, I'll just say "Oh, Sheryl?
Her fame came too quickly and she faded out of sight."
And most likely by then we'll have so many new artists
creating Sheryl-inspired work, she won't really
be missed anyway. -Marguerite Day, March 18, 2006
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