Elements of Being: Women and the Number 3
By Clara Musca
Lance Writer
July 13, 2010
 The Art Gallery of Windsor is proud to present a coming together of different Canadian works to bring audiences a new exhibit entitled “Elements of Being: Women and the Number 3”.
Located on the third floor of the gallery, this exhibit showcases oil paintings of women paired up with abstract pieces. The paintings are supposed to challenge audiences concerning differences between what is abstract and what is concrete, in an attempt to view the juxtaposed images as part of one universe. The pictures of women are easily recognizable as “female” and “human,” however the abstract pieces do not have such a concrete identity.
Ghitta Caiserman-Roth’s 1923 painting shows a young girl looking at herself in a mirror placed on the floor with a bird sitting on it. Beside this piece is Ron Martin’s “Untitled,” presenting an abyss of smeared warm colours, with red dominating. Essentially, it seems as though the abstract pieces present a space of thought originating from the female characters placed next to them. The abstract images are not viewed the same way as portraits because people tend to see personality, emotion, and a sense of past in living things, whereas abstract pieces are not spiritual beings that exist in reality.
This exhibit is here to teach us something about these pre-existing notions of what is real. Abstracts can present a characteristic that is human as well—people have become accustomed only to recognizable objects and forms.
Most of the pairs of oil paintings seem to be working together in an attempt to represent and interpret each other. Pierre Billet’s “Young Fisherwomen,” which shows five or so girls relaxing on the shore after a day of fishing, is placed next to a large abstract painting with a serene blue background and random swirls of colour, as if the swirls were representing the girls. This is a very fascinating conclusion one can make, because more and more of the juxtaposed art starts to speak to audiences, drawing them in, and convincing them that they are not that much different after all.
Another example of this points to “The General’s Wife” by Raphael Goldchain and “Image of Time #5” by George Mihalcheon. The first painting shows a lady in a blue dress sitting in a grey audience of people, staring out as if viewing a film. The abstract piece next to it contains no other colours but blue and black. Perhaps we are all surface as well, and have more in common with our non-concrete counterparts than we thought.
“Elements of Being: Women and the Number 3” is on display at the Art Gallery of Windsor until Aug. 22 and is definitely something to experience and think about.
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