Jamie Isenstein at Guild & Greyshkul
Art in America, Jan, 2005 by Michael Amy

In "Infinite Invisible Soft-Shoe," her gripping and unforgettable debut at Guild & Greyshkul, Jamie Isenstein brought to the Gothic theme of death and the maiden an infinitely light touch and a good dose of humor. Although a gifted painter and draftsman, Isenstein here created a spare installation that included a video, a player piano and a red velvet curtain rising and falling over a shallow, empty stage set. The video was of a past performance, the piano played by itself and the rising curtain revealed nothing. Highlighting absence and loss, Isenstein reminds us that death is always by our side, ready to strike at any moment. A note of sadness hovers over the exhibition, in which the artist--now here, now gone--is seen as an exuberant young woman bubbling with life, who gently mocks death.

The video loop, Infinite Disco Soft-Shoe (2002-04), shows Isenstein dancing with a mechanized skeleton on a small, spot-lit podium. They wear white tuxedo jackets with tails over black shirts and gym pants with a stripe down the side, sneakers, top hats and fake-looking plastic-rimmed glasses with eyebrows attached. The skeleton moves its hips and legs, holding a cane horizontally in front of its groin. Isenstein, with a winning smile, does her best to echo the skeleton's movements without looking at it, and is sometimes slightly out of sync.

Originally conceived as a performance piece, this dance of death with a twist is accompanied by the player piano endlessly performing a lively transcription of the Bee Gees disco classic, "Staying Alive" (Infinite Invisible Disco, 2004). The piano bench remains unoccupied as the instrument's keys appear to be struck by the quicksilver fingers of four absent hands--perhaps those of Isenstein and her sidekick.

Invisible Disco Soft-Shoe (2004) consists of the stage set and a curtain that is kept in almost perpetual motion by the artist, who pulls the ropes while remaining concealed (though she is almost exposed at times). The curtain seems to be trying to keep up with the music--fighting to "stay alive," in a sense. Rising and falling, opening and closing, it reveals merely a black-velvet backdrop, raising issues of emptiness and loneliness, illusions and deception. The performance is an endurance piece, repeated with only slight variations over many hours and demanding the artist's complete and unflinching commitment.

COPYRIGHT 2005 Brant Publications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group

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