September 21–28, 2000

art

Tedium Medium

Judith Schaechter: New Work

Snyderman Gallery, 303 Cherry St., through Sept. 30, 215-238-9576

Philadelphia artist Judith Schaechter is well known for her innovative work in stained glass that combines the labor-intensive traditional craft of medieval glass with disturbing contemporary imagery and a Rabelaisian sense of humor. Although trained as a painter, Schaechter has chosen to work in stained glass for many years because of the "tedium factor" (so her ideas won’t be outpaced by her methods) and because of the sheer beauty and irresistibility of the medium. Her luminous works are rich in visual texture and detail because of the commitment of time but, even more important, there’s a concrete conceptual process at work: thinking while making equals embodied meaning.

This exhibition presents recent stained glass panels by Schaechter, each showing a highly differentiated world of emotional intensity made out of a contrived mise-en-scene, decorative motifs and considered distortion. Sitting. Not Working., for example, is a thickly packed icon of a girl wearing a plain white dress (one of Schaechter’s trademark waifs) slumped in a chair holding a broom. The drama in this static image comes from the trail of dirt sweeping around the left side of the image, the drooping eyelids and melting features of the entropic figure, and the lively surrounding decorative patterns.

Bird Bath shows a dainty flat-faced nymph in a party dress standing helplessly in a shower of crisp raindrops behind a birdbath filled with imaginary birds. The restraint of the surrounding white glass squares is a perfect foil for the richly colored figure and birds.

Rejects is a glass crazy quilt made up of heads and decorative passages. Born out of the tremendous waste of the stained-glass process, these plaintive rejects all seem to be jockeying for a spot in the limelight.

Patron Saint of Circus Apes Parade, epic poetry with a juvenile theme, is a three-paneled scene of a grand procession of warped toys, stuffed animals with crutches and prosthetic devices, and ominous cartoon characters. This beautiful and richly detailed piece brings to mind the Triumphal Procession of Maximilian I acted out by extras from Toy Story.

As Schaechter has matured into a major figure in the contemporary glass movement, her recent work has become more complex, generous and well considered. Schaechter’s mission, "to put the visual back in visual art," is rigorously carried out through the thoughtful craftsmanship in this exhibition, and we’re very lucky indeed that this artist has figured out how to make such exquisite work simply by applying the "tedium factor."

—Susan Hagen