Anderson Gallery gets lathered up

Gregory Barsamian has created another magnificent exhibit that is being displayed at the Anderson Gallery. “Lather” is Barsamian’s second time having work at the Gallery, and it is creating a big turn out.

The piece itself is spectacular. The exhibit appears to be roughly 16 sets of hands that appear to be washing themselves. Beneath the hands, soap drips off and turns into a paper bag. The bag then crumples up and becomes an egg that lands on a clay head that seems to be shaking on the floor. Adding to the hysteria of the piece is a strobe light blinking on the hands in a dark gray room and a disarming whirring sound that was fully intentional, considering that Barsamian generally has “soundtracks” to accompany his pieces, according to Anderson Gallery owner Leon Roper.

To see it is mind-boggling at the least. Roper turned off the strobe light and the spinning of the piece and explained that it was actually 16 pieces connected in the middle, each slightly different from the other. It demystifies the project a bit to see it still, but it was still interesting to see how each hand, paper bag, egg and then head changes to get the fluent motion when it rotates. The strobe light is used to flash on the hands and produces an effect similar to a silent movie. Even though the moving sculpture takes up roughly half a room, it is one of Barsamian’s smaller pieces.

“They’re so big,” Roper said, “(‘Lather’ was) the only one we could fit in the space.”

Even an art student can be a bit stumped when viewing “Lather” for the first time.

“It took me a while to figure out what was going on (with ‘Lather’), said Laura Stone, a junior sculpture and ceramics major. “It’s visually appealing, a good use of stop animation. I think it’s the coolest thing we’ve ever had here; it’ just so strange.”

But, as Leon Roper recalls, this is not the first time that Barsamian’s work has been on display at the Anderson Gallery.

“He was here three years ago because he sent out information on his traveling show,” Roper said. “Eight pieces were on display and we had our greatest attendance ever.

“We asked him back so that another generation who hasn’t seen his work were able to.”

It is impressive that he picked a gallery at VCU to show his work considering that he is based in New York and has shown work in many galleries across the country and in Europe. His last exhibit, “Innuendo Non Troppo,” included bizarre figures, like a head separating and then coming back together, and in the weeks it was displayed 11,000 people viewed the multi-floor spectacle.

With the great increase in people, about 50 to 80 each day, visiting the gallery to view the exhibit, it is also giving greater recognition to the other exhibits being displayed at the Gallery, such as “Thinking with Blood: Conflict and Culture in the American South” and “Return to Normandy.”

“(‘Lather’) was kind of a hook to get people in,” Roper said. “But the other shows are getting attention, too.”

Having a spectacular well-known artist is one of the many perks of going to an art school, and all VCU students should take advantage of it. When stepping inside the curtain shrouded room, be prepared to scrape your jaw off the floor as you leave.

“Lather,” “Thinking with Blood,” which is a traveling exhibit by 15 southern artists and “Return to Normandy,” which is a display of photographs by Allen Jones depicting World War II, will all be on display at the Anderson Gallery through March 9.

For information on Gregory Barsamian go to www.concentric.net.

More photos of Barsamian’s “Lather”