Simplicity of appearance in a work of art is not the same as simplicity of
experience. Robert Morris made this point concerning Minimal sculpture but it
is equally valid if extended to other areas of art , as well. To describe the
works of Joshua Neustein is relatively simple, yet one could also describe a
Jasper Johns flag or target quite easily by saying that these are everyday images,
executed in bright colors with encaustic, collage, etc. In such a discussion
of art, we have all the cosmetics without the face. An appreciation of Neustein's
work results from the total process of experiencing the work and that process
depends as much on how the mind conceives as on how the eye perceives. Through
that process of experiencing, the artist's concepts are revealed and in Neustein's
case, these informing 'ideas are rich and' complex.
Gneiss Dermis consists of a sheaf of papers, about five layers thick,
sprayed on the outermost sheet with black
Laquered and fixed to the wall' by pins. The work is "finished" at
this paint; according to Neustein's ideas, because it is a whole, complete entity
one unity with' all the: given elements present. Yet: that is not how the final
work looks because Neustein has taken the sheaf of paper, torn it across, and
reversed the lower half of the sheaf. Now there are two separate units and what
is the sprayed outer sheet above 'is turned front: to back below so that the,
sprayed outer surface is pinned against the wall. We recognize the concealed
surface because the spraying shadows faintly through on the underside of the
paper: We believe this to be the same, torn stack of papers because the upper
unit remains in its original position.. It is a simple, tearing and
reversal process but can we be absolutely certain? To the spray on the bottom
sheet, of the lower unit indeed the same spray coming through the same pinned
up some sheets of the bottom unit to make the work more knowable. Now the torn
edges of the upper sheets match in, the two units but the lowest sheet, which
lies flat, matches the topmost sheet only if we' reverse its image in our minds.
Counting the layers of paper is somehow difficult: are there five, six sheets
in all? Why should this be troubling since the work is so simple? After all,
these are just sheets of newsprint paper subjected to spraying, stacking, tearing,
and pinning. In the process of experiencing the work, one 'brings the piece
back to its original position and thus retraces the activity that went into,
its creation. We go back to not only what we perceive but ' to whatever routine
thoughts have occurred that enable us to reconstruct the work.
In an interview Neustein discusses the highly structured quality of his work:
"it wasn't always structured. When I was brought up, action painting was
the dominant art form. It was that journey from action painting to a structured
language that was so much fun." Neustein describes his purpose; "My
intention is clear. When I have a part of a piece that is useable, I go to some
length to make it knowable -I fold it up to show an edge- to make it knowable.
I want it to be seen. When I see a piece of work that doesn't show how it is
done, it looks theatrical to me."
Crucial ideas of removal and wholeness in Neustein's recent works were clearly
evident in his conceptual, environmental works. In Boots I, (1969), an event
done in conjunction with Georgette Batlle and Gerard Marx, 17,000 pairs of old
boots were placed so that they filled an entire Artists Exhibition House, Jerusalem.
In London in 1971, Neustein dismembered bales of hay, separating the bales from
their bindings and showing both within the same room. The separated units of
hay bales and bindings were left in visual conjunction at spaced intervals.
Ideals of wholeness, connections, intervals and removal are merged in the Jebel
Ridge series, recent works in which sheets of paper which have been separately
sprayed and pinned together are subsequently torn. The torn forms are then removed
and placed just above the original "parent" layers. Jebel Ridge
refers to mountain ranges in Jerusalem and the series suggests topographical
references. While Neustein does not focus on nature images, his early mixed
media works were in a landscape idiom and several environmental events dealt
with nature. Striae, a sheet of paper torn horizontally and vertically
with all the pieces separated and in order, carries the geological implication
of layers of shale. Neustein observes, "I am connected to the landscape
and the way things are built around us...the real world stops me from engaging
in geometric acrobatics."
Neustein creates a language, a grammar of tearing, cutting, and folding, and
within that syntax, "Each defines paper in a different way and creates a different
relationship. A tear is not as severed as a cut and not as contiguous as a fold;
it has great specificity. That specificity was for me an important solution
in making some meaningful relation with the paper. Each action I could make
functionally gave me an additional world for my vocabulary. Manipulation of
forms is not a goal for me – for me it's fascinating to turn things around,
to put things front to back. Painting was always frontal. Here I can have a
painting which is not frontal but which has issues of back to front. (Rina Gallery)
