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The Sculpture of Louise Nevelson: Constructing A LegendThrough September 16The Jewish Museum 1109 Fifth Ave. at 92nd St. Admission: adults $12, children under twelve free (free Saturdays) Closed Fridays 212-423-3337 jewishmuseum.org Jewish Museum Show Reveals the Inner and Outer Master Artist  Nevelson, “Mrs. N’s Palace,â€? painted wood, mirror, 1964-77  Louise Nevelson, “Dawn’s Wedding Chapel,â€? painted wood, 1959  Louise Nevelson, “First Personage,â€? painted wood, 1956  Louise Nevelson, “Night Presence IV,â€? 1973  Louise Nevelson At Erol Beker Chapel of the Good Shepherd  Louise Nevelson's "Shadows and Flags" “The Sculpture of Louise Nevelson: Constructing a Legend,” at the Jewish Museum through September 16, contains more than five dozen works, including painted wood installations, photographs, drawings, etchings, Plexiglas sculptures, steel pieces, and silkscreens, displaying her depth and range. Many of her works are like sliced-open souls, revealing the complexities inside, abstract conglomerations in small boxes that are both heartbreaking and life-affirming. “Black Moon” is like a grandfather clock, evoking the passage of time. The re-created “Dawn’s Wedding Feast” is a room-size installation that includes the bride and groom and various guests, all painted white in celebration of their matrimony. “Homage to 6,000,000 I” is long and horizontal, two primary pieces of painted black wood seemingly pulled open to reveal the hearts and souls lost during the Holocaust, with dozens of small boxes filled with varying objects, emphasizing the loss of each individual. “Mrs. N’s Palace” is a self-contained room unto itself, with a mirror, as if Nevelson has opened up her own soul. Themes such as royalty and matrimony, day and night, nature and the environment, and religion are evident in such pieces as “Sky Cathedral Presence,” “Rain Forest Column XVIII,” and “Royal Tide I” (one of several works painted in gold). The vertical “Dream House XXXII” is almost like a person, with some hinged doors open, some closed, as if revealing only certain parts, hiding others. One of the most telling works is “First Personage,” in which a flat front section, with a knot in the wood that almost looks like a mouth trying to open up and say something, stands in front of a second section that has sharp edges shooting out of one side, unable to hold in what it contains, as if the artist herself is about to explode. The exhibit also includes the short film “Louise Nevelson: A Conversation with Six Artists,” in which archival of footage of Nevelson at work in her studio and talking about her career is combined with a half dozen modern artists discussing Nevelson's influence on them. Nevelson left her mark on New York City in more ways than one, with several public sculptures still standing, a wonderful gift to the people. Just a few blocks from the Jewish Museum, Nevelson’s “Night Presence IV” stands in the Park Ave. median at 92nd St., facing south. Originally installed in 1973 on 60th St. at Fifth Ave., the Cor-Ten steel work was presented to the city by Nevelson in celebration of her 50th anniversary of living and working in New York. Not many people are familiar with Saint Peter’s Church on Lexington Ave. at 54th St., a small, modern-looking structure built in 1977 that hides some treasures inside and outside its hallowed halls. Nearly every inch of the Erol Beker Chapel of the Good Shepherd, an airy five-sided room of natural-colored and white-painted wood, frosted glass, and an abstract white cross on a gold background (“Cross of the Resurrection”), was designed by Nevelson, who entitled the east wall “Frieze of the Apostles” and the west wall “Sky Vestment – Trinity.” Also in 1977, Nevelson installed “Shadows and Flags” in the newly renamed Louise Nevelson Plaza in Legion Memorial Square, at the intersection of Maiden Ln. and William and Liberty Sts. “Shadows and Flags” contains seven pieces, several of which are set on a long, narrow pedestal, resulting in works that look like they’re blowing in the wind. Finally, one piece we can no longer see is “Sky Gate – New York,” which used to hang in the lobby of 1 World Trade Center, a black-painted wood relief that looked like a flying ship with circles and square and rectangular “doors” throughout and was destroyed on 9/11. Mark Rifkin is the managing director of This Week in New York. To find out more about what’s going on in the five boroughs, visit www.twi-ny.com. © 2007 by Mark Rifkin / twi-ny
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