{"id":2585,"date":"2013-10-28T17:25:06","date_gmt":"2013-10-28T21:25:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/?p=2585"},"modified":"2013-12-12T15:14:34","modified_gmt":"2013-12-12T20:14:34","slug":"review-truppe-fledermaus-and-the-carnival-at-the-end-of-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2013\/10\/review-truppe-fledermaus-and-the-carnival-at-the-end-of-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Truppe Fledermaus and the Carnival at the End of the World"},"content":{"rendered":"

The collaborative team of Nicholas Kahn and Richard Selesnick recently filled the Galleries at  Cleveland State U.<\/a> with posters, postcards, and photos from their magical world of speculative fiction and false history–Truppe Fledermaus and the Carnival at the End of the World<\/em>.<\/p>\n

While Kahn and Selesnick’s magic realism<\/em> reminds me of artists like Magritte<\/a>, or Rousseau<\/a>, it has more in common with a novelist like Gabriel García Márquez.<\/a> As in Marquez’ One Hundred Years of Solitude<\/em><\/a>, the aslant Carnival is filled with the improbable, impossible, and the ‘not true,’ all reported matter-of-factually.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/span>In the Studio Oct. 14 2012<\/span><\/a><\/div>

Carnival mementos consist of posters promoting the carnival, fiction, and photographs. One entire wall is filled with posters and notices. The posters seem to be hand-crafted and many of them are satisfying works in their own right, as can be seen in this photograph from the exhibition.<\/p>\n

\"Wall<\/a>
Wall of posters from ‘Carnival at the End of the World’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pages of fiction are interspersed throughout the exhibition. The fiction is the carnival world’s ‘history’ of events. Its style is polished and seductive but too self-conscious and precious for my taste.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/span>Stephen Pentak at Bonfoey<\/span><\/a><\/div>

The heart of the exhibition is large-format photographs of carefully constructed scenes and set pieces, as shown in the following photograph.<\/p>\n

\"From<\/a>
From ‘Carnival at the End of the World’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Photographs are adroitly doctored to look old-timey and archival, which enhances their arresting dreamlike quality and moves them into the unspecified past. The carnival travels through the same land inhabited by, say, 14th century shrines to the even older Edward the Confessor, and King Arthur–the land of legend and dream.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/span>Cleveland Museum of Art Staff Exhibition<\/span><\/a><\/div>

Figures and contraptions–heavily costumed and elaborately posed–are centrally placed.  The subjects strong two-dimensionality provide a satisfying visual pay-off. Objects poke and probe the photo’s edges in a playful manner.<\/p>\n

Figures are animated by purposeful activity that on close scrutiny dissolves into Bruegel-like <\/a>comic pathos. There is a lot of showmanship and voila<\/em> moments, as would be expected at a carnival. Several of the pieces have a sinister tone, but even these don’t stray far from a child’s scary story.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/span>In the Studio—10\/28\/12<\/span><\/a><\/div>

Because I did not care for the accompanying literature, I ignored it. Perhaps this means my review falls short of the mark. I defend myself with the visual pieces on display here. Their strength needs no explanation and stand on their own.<\/p>\n

I enjoyed the show immensely.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/span>Hurricane Sandy<\/span><\/a><\/div>

[Photos mine but work shown are copyright the artists.]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The collaborative team of Nicholas Kahn and Richard Selesnick recently filled the Galleries at  Cleveland State U. with posters, postcards, and photos from their magical world of speculative fiction and false history–Truppe Fledermaus and the Carnival at the End of the World. While Kahn and Selesnick’s magic realism reminds me of artists like Magritte, or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":2613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10,76,46,87,1],"tags":[21,8,86,73],"class_list":["post-2585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cleveland","category-galleries","category-reviews","category-thumbs-up-down","category-uncategorized","tag-art-review-2","tag-artists-2","tag-postmodern","tag-review"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/truppe1.jpg?fit=500%2C757&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2574,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2013\/09\/review-augusto-bordelois-at-csu\/","url_meta":{"origin":2585,"position":0},"title":"Review: Augusto Bordelois at CSU","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"September 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The Cuban-born, Cleveland-based artist Augusto Bordelois is showing some striking works at Cleveland State U. The exhibition, titled \"Based on a True Story,\" is filled with large-format paintings full of bold colors and simple shapes that burst their frames and overflow the shallow space, as in the accompanying photo. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Artists"","block_context":{"text":"Artists","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/artists\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/bordelois1.jpg?fit=600%2C465&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/bordelois1.jpg?fit=600%2C465&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/bordelois1.jpg?fit=600%2C465&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3570,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2014\/04\/review-43rd-student-show-the-galleries-at-csu\/","url_meta":{"origin":2585,"position":1},"title":"Review: 43rd Student Show The Galleries at CSU","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"April 28, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"This is my second review of a Cleveland State U. student exhibition. Like last year's show, the quality is student-grade but compares well with\u00a0student\u00a0shows at higher profile schools, like the Cleveland Institute of Art. The biggest difference between the two is that students at the\u00a0latter produce\u00a0more formal conceptional pieces. Also\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cleveland"","block_context":{"text":"Cleveland","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/cleveland\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Abrahim.jpg?fit=400%2C575&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3091,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2014\/02\/cleveland-gallery-reviews\/","url_meta":{"origin":2585,"position":2},"title":"Cleveland Gallery Reviews","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"February 17, 2014","format":"status","excerpt":"Frequent readers might have noticed the dwindling number of reviews of Cleveland galleries. I've been exploring the Cleveland art scene--such as it is--for two years and my early sense of discovery has long since dissipated. The NE Ohio galleries, like most of those outside the major art markets, are dedicated\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cleveland"","block_context":{"text":"Cleveland","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/cleveland\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1551,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2013\/04\/the-42nd-student-show-at-the-galleries-at-csu\/","url_meta":{"origin":2585,"position":3},"title":"The 42nd Student Show at The Galleries at CSU","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"April 3, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I enjoy student shows and attend them whenever\u00a0I've\u00a0a chance. While most student shows are filled with, well, student-grade work, I almost always find a gem or two. 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