The Pale Memory of Man, 2008
Having heard that the editor of ArtScene received three capsules on the Bercowetz show at The Happy Lion, I think it’s unlikely that I will get the full $30 for my capsule. I’ll probably get the $20 for a combined capsule, which is a sight better than the $5 kill fee.
Here’s my ten cents on the guy:
For a New Yorker, Jesse Bercowetz skewers his first Los Angeles solo show with a knowing local know-how. The dominating installation, The Pale Memory of Man, looks alternately like a derelict derrick and a monstrous mobile – referring at once to the many oil derricks throughout LA county and to the ever-present aliens (and their spawn) of the movie industry. Encrusted with black tar-like splatters, the wooden construction not only reaches outwards with four giant claws, but also pierces the ceiling with a narrowing ladder shape that begins to resemble a neck. The intensity of the piece’s presence is somewhat offset by dangling mobiles overhead, which allow the viewer to approach with ducked heads, only to be thwarted by the mess of broken bottles covering the platform base and the scythe shapes jutting out all over the place.