whose she? the catalog
cover: zoe ramone, spilled ink bubble bird, 2006, ink drawing turned vector art end sheets: karen crumb, a moment of zen, 2006, pencil on paper opposite page: nora erazmus, happy heads, 2005, gouache on kitakata
whose she? PARTICIPATING ARTISTS becka berman samara burck karen crumb norma erazmus sara kramer roe kusama ezra mesa zoe ramone amber sorren mona zaber
the picture taker
BECKA BERMAN Becka carries a camera in her bag and can whip it out within 3 seconds. (She’s timed it.) She snaps shots of quintessential everyday occurrences. Trying to give balance to a world of abstract chaos and intricate simplicity, Becka captures fleeting moments of time. A recent investigation of hers is the enneagram, a system which describes nine personality types and charts their dynamic interactions. She has begun to incorporate these personae into her pieces and life. Becka lives and teaches photography in picturesque Martha’s Vinyard.
capture the moment before it captures you.
– becka
she never said fuck again, 2005, digital photograph, 4.75” x 3.625”
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kinky hair number 4, 2006, digital photograph, 5.5” x 4.5”
the individualist 2006, digital photograph, 2.5” x 2.5”
ocean beach, san diego 2006, digital photograph 2.5” x 2.5”
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the game player
SAMARA BURCK “I feel my work is a constant self-indulgent exploration of my youth and my desire to stay fresh and retro,” explains Samara, a self-proclaimed “pop colourturist.” Since graduating from the Royal College of Art, she has participated in numerous group shows and has had solo exhibitions at The Osohip Gallery in Brooklyn, NY and the Cinori Gallery in Philadelphia, PA. Samara surrounds herself with slinkys, spirographs and fun tchotchkes which she googles and ebays in the wee hours. Her latest project is a sewn tribute to the 1970’s strategy game “Othello,” in which she has given the game a new twist by adding positive and negative words to the ravioli OreoTM-like playing pieces. Samara currently resides and plays in Miami.
today is the day for play. – sam
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shake the roller coaster, 2006, silkscreen, 11” x 14” courtesy Cinori Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
opposite page: OtHello pixel pieces: tape/dispenser; mat/frame; glue/tar 2006, digital print 7” x 9” spiro antics 2006, silkscreen 11” x 14”
what she remembers most 2006, digital print 14” x 12” 5
the obsessive doodler
KAREN CRUMB “The Little Apple,” aka Manhattan, Kansas was where Karen spent her childhood. At age nine, she learned of the additional Manhattan and was determined to make her way there someday. Karen’s father worked in a pencil factory and her mother in a paper mill. Consequently, her fate was determined as she had a limitless supply of art-making materials. Since she lived in the middle of “out there,” she spent lots of time constantly doodling – when not tending the Crumb family farm. She is privileged to unearth her madness at this exhibition.
the overly absurd counts for something. – karen
13 drawings from kc’s sketch books 1995-2006 pencil or pen on paper various sizes
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mutated potato fish, 2006, drawing and painter, 7.5” x 6.5”
cow pig 2005, pencil on paper, 5” x 5”
i have finger feet 1998, pencil on paper, 2.25” x 2.25”
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i never know where i live i hate when people nod at lectures i like this sketchbook i resist the urge to color it in my personal vision is _______ the innocent eyes of the beginner do more doodles what is it? oh, its nothing. coffee = safety blanket antics blithly mock befuttled can’t stop. it’s all connected. i’ll never finish. content. focus. vacancy. corrupt. do it over. pun. fun. done. trecherous interval. menglish a breakthrough or a breakdown. paper towel people. but why are we interested in the experience? buy a new toy. charting my doodles. pretty nifty. mass metaphor. caution! drive thru turkey sushi. who is the trainer? what do we miss? what is it that you take away with you? why are we sitting here doing nothing? gum drops and unicorns. work stills into life into work. hopping over the fence. we. ak. zoom in zoom out. i am better then what i produce. put on different caps. under the sheets. soda. sushi. surrender. innocent. box of bunco huh? skip with care. stop looking, start drawing. sorry richard tuttle i was distracted by an outlandish outfit which it the complete enemy of your fine line piece. “i look at art everyday, it legitimizes me.” says who? i would be last. my book broke. keep this coupon. one of my goals. (photo of a hammock) it smells like mustard in here. the right line can mean anything. the write line can mean everything. remember? i did this years ago. unsightly productive. blow bubble. mute. where does my coffee go? still sick, can’t drink my coffee. fence house. comb, fingers, scrapers, grinders. love & laundry. the power of line. smooch. homie. (in script) upside down dawg. punctuation macaroni. we start out the same but end up different. domino people. skipping to the end. cannibalize my own work. get inky! painting with type. make a mark. hi, i’m mark. i want to do a little bit of everything, but boy does that leave a whole lot. every image makes the next. i like that. bubbles blowing. need a story. zither. can this day go any slower? where is it all going to go? object as character. what is this ugly thing? i am not for sale, things i should be doing: (invoice, dr. call, write) what is it now? i see coffee and want it. my fiction. good night baby doll. nothing of what i meant to do today i did. i did do something and a bit of nothing which made me come to borders and read and write and sit and drink coffee. that was exactly what i needed. be my toy. last night i was attacked by mosquitos. what can you do with anything once youve done it? i skipped. simulated nature. i need a mentor. absurdity. similar things with nothing in common. missing link. i need new ideas. have i a rival? flocking, sawdust, glitter and sand. gil sans has arrived. paint toes. blue day. how do i get “layered?” i went back to school and found helvetica. why does my pallete not work? it broke. she cried. they broke. “what’s really personal is always universal” clarity. what do you do with a dead vcr and ipod? don’t shoot the one you love. unanswerable crosswords. i enjoy the finish line. process=patience. try things dummy. i’m going into a book. t feels too precious. current hair length. etc. floating in the night. i want to know now! fallout shelter. freak out. level high. duct tape and plastic. chance rule book. lifelong pursuit of “it” why did it take till 30? 2 color pages. rubbish. evolve. it has begun. i am officially bored. i am trapped in a box. whimsical sensability. where did i get this pen? he who dies with the most scrap wins. sexy but frumpy. i finally found knishes. shifty lines. rhythm and pulse. now more than ever. saw it. and so it continues. scan in passion. stop doodling and go to sleep. sigh sad monkey. game off = me. i thought i’d be swell if you’d join me at hell. best ice coffee ever. 100% polyseter. hammock bliss. you are now entering a d ifferent world. strength. i need pills to sleep. “reality can be beaten with enough imagination” mushy mushy angel suburban barb. fat and skinny lines. who ya calllin’ fat? yay - done! i am iron man. what is up with? jammy time. large light with skim. i miss cabs perspective me. woofer. shelf. we the peeps. rated r. recover distance. big changes = tiny steps. brain games. tulips & rabbits. ugh. jukebox mediocre. i need text. torn between two worlds. things that are yellow.
the word lover
NORMA ERAZMUS
Norma Erazmus is a word junky who consumes massive amounts of text every day. She sees the world as a place of sans and serifs. Her mother taught English and Yiddish and therefore Norma grew up in a house bursting with books.
Norma draws, paints, makes books and photographs language and communication. Her favorite character is a lowercase “g.” Her second favorite font is Franklin Gothic. She has a secret crush on Ed Rusha.
a word is worth one thousand pictures... – rosa
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top: city/grass/book 2006, inkjet on tyvek, 36” x 16” left: appreciate 2005, photo, 2.25” x 2.25” right: from: kenney cel 2005, photo, 2.25” x 2.25”
word play, 2005, inkjet printed book, 4.25” x 5.5”
head straight to the stud king 2005, photo, 2.25” x 2.625”
wedding chapel + divorcios (l.a.) 2003, 2.25” x 2.625”
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the quirky painter
SARA KRAMER Sara’s recent move to Willemstad, Curaçao (from Long Island) has influenced her work profusely. The cacti on the island have become a catalyst for her playful paintings. She has incorporated her new surroundings with her unabashedly quirky paintings which reference character and contemplation. Sara employs a encrypted vocabulary disguised as abstraction. For over twenty years she has worked on a myriad of surfaces with everything sacred. Inspired by her recent upheaval as well as infomercials and coffee, Sara’s mind is truly her studio.
draw. paint. then rinse and repeat. endlessly. – nora cacto curaçao 2005 acrylic gouache on wood varied sizes, all smaller than 3”
untitled 2005 ink & gouache on acetate & paper 4” x 6”
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great me, 2004, acrylic on canvas, 4” x 4”
the protagonists 2005, acrylic gouache on wood, 8” x 10”
rumination 2004, acrylic on panel, 11” x 11”
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the funny peeps
ROE KUSAMA Roe’s characters are lovable and sneaky. What may appear cute at first glance, actually might be a disguise. Roe’s process is a blurring of traditional hand-work and technology. Roe draws with pencil, then digitally scans them, then prints them out and draws on top. It’s an endless cycle which she loves to engage in. Roe was born in Tokyo, but moved to San Diego in the early ‘80s. At night she would listen to Wham and read her comic books, during the day she would illustrate her spelling tests. She had a hard time making friends so she drew her own. Her characters create a interwoven world of confidantes and narratives.
nothing ever happens, but then something did. – aka
these are the peeps in my neighborhood, yo, 2005, digital drawing, 4.75” x 1”
another day 2006, pencil on inkjet 8.5” x 11”
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dusty rose guitar 2006, pencil on inkjet 8.5” x 11”
spicy salmon roll 2006, pencil on inkjet 8.5” x 11”
between the sheets, 2005, digital drawing, 12” x 12”
little billy and the giraffe 2006 nu pastel 18” x 24” courtesy Yotokyo Gallery Tokyo
dollar store long johns 2003 watercolor 2.25” x 5” 17
the identity question
EZRA MESA Ezra Mesa questions identity. Her fascination with belly buttons and faces rivet her to view family photos and identifying similar characteristics within the faces. An adopted child, she has always wondered if there was anyone on this planet that looks like her. She occasionally looks at her belly and wonders who was originally attached to the other end. Ezra graduated from NYU with a degree in Physiognomy but worked to pay off her loans at a one-hour photo store and soon fell in love with herself and film. Ezra has recently entered the world of video is enjoying playing producer, director, key grip and movie star.
we start out the same but end up different – ezra
looking at me looking 2006, digital video, running time: 1:36
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self portrait number 1 as a plush, 2004, digital photograph, 5.5” x 4.5”
eviction 2005, digital photograph, 2.25” x 2.625”
attachment 2005, digital photograph, 2.25” x 2.625”
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the master of ink
ZOE RAMONE With a rich visual vocabulary of flowing map-like lines and ink plops, Zoe is a self-taught emerging artist who comes from the punk ink scene of San Francisco. Inspired by electrical wires, dandelions and lollipops, Zoe likes to choreograph her lines to dance on the paper in shapes as they dry. She is the master of their fate and she enjoys making them work. As they wiggle and flow and settle into the paper, she likes to coddle them with encouragement (and an occasional bribe). This exhibit marks Zoe’s east coast debut.
every image creates the next. – zoe the bunny wars 2006, ink to vector 18” x 24”
sprout 2006, ink on paper, 18” x 24”
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there’s a territorial shift in the ice state of confusion, 2006, ink on paper, 18” x 24”
the lolly’s have spoken and they’re not pleased 2006, ink on paper, 18” x 24”
fall out from boob burst 2006, ink on paper, 18” x 24”
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the stuff collector
AMBER SORREN Amber is a collects apartments and because of this, she collects “stuff.” In the span of six years, she’s had six apartments: three in Philadelphia, two in Boston, and one in New York City. Her little rent stabilized 4th floor walk up in Manhattan’s West Village has inspired much of who Amber is and what Amber does. Amber had 55 people email her a list of ten items from their apartment. “Contents” varied from love to porn. She has worked with this list of 550 items for six months now, but plans to milk it just a bit longer. Through her installations she has given the contents a voice and a home. She invites viewers to incorporate the objects into their own domestic relationships and narratives.
obsession & posession justifiy consumption.
– amber
contents numbers 1, 23, 29, 32, 44, and 53, 2005, xerography, wood, magnetic board, 4” x 6” and 5” x 7”
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sixty- four apartments for rent around the globe 2005, photos mounted on 1” wood cubes, floor to ceiling installation
55 contents, 2005, xerox transfer on wood, placed on magnetic sheet, various sizes
mustard city 2005 xerography, 11� x 14�
roach (as in the arachnid not the joint) 2005, image projection
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wunderkind
MONA ZABER Inspired by nature, Mona’s drawings and prints reference a candy coated hyper-real world. She aims to bring out natures true colors using bold graphic shapes and repetitive forms. She toys with a balance of nature/artifice and exploration/ exploitation. Mona drives a hybrid SUV and lives “lime” green. Mona resides in Sweden and New York has exhibited locally and internationally. She is a founder member of the Stockholm artists collective “Wunderkind,” and has recently returned from a three month residency in Oahu, Hawaii.
nature inspires before it expires – mona
ögonglob 2006, digital print 8” x 10”
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en taggig växt med tjocka blad av familjen 2006, digital print 8” x 10”
go be fruitful and multiply, 2006, digital print, courtesy Cinori Gallery, Philadelphia, PA undulation 2006, digital print 8” x 10”
gräs 2006, digital print 8” x 10”
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photo: becka berman, swinging mikayla, 2005, digital photo 22
index of themes absurdity accident addiction adoption age air alphabet animation anagram antics apartment apple approach attention attraction baby dolls back bagel balloon banana barrow be beach bean bedroom bee beetle befuddle beginning belly between bialy bic binary bird birth black blade blanket blind bling bliss blithely blob blocks blue blurry board body bone books bored braids brain brew brunch bubbles bugs buildings bunny buttons cab cactus
cannibalize canvas cartoons car wash casettes catalog caution cereal chalk chance change charting chicken choice city clarity click clouds coffee collections color comb comics commerce commitment competition confusion contents copy cotton craziness cubes culture curse cute daze decision decoration detail differences dirty disguise disorder distance distraction dive division document domestic done doodles drama drip driving dude dumb duplicate dweller eighties electric english even everything
experience eyes fabric face fancy fear fence fender fiction fifty five file fingers finish fish flash flat-files fleeting flip-flops flow flowers flutter flux fold folder fork frame friends frock fun futon game gap ghetto giraffe glasses globe google grammar grass green grid grinders guitar gulp gumdrops hair hammock hand heart hiding homage homie huh humor hunger hyper ikea imagination indecision influence ink instability instruction
interest interval ironic invisible jack jammys japan java jeans jukebox junk kitchen knish ladders language laundry layers lazy length letters life likes linear link lock lollypop long island looking love macaroni mass math matte metaphor mice milk minus miss missing moments monkeys moo mosquitoes mug multiply mushroom mushy mustard mutation mute mutiny nails naked name narrative nature network newspaper new york next nifty nineties nod
noise non-fiction nonsense normal nostalgia notebook nothing numbers nurture objection obsession open opposites origami origin ornament other paint paper paste patience peeps pencil perky personality pet pieces piggy pillow pin plastic play playground plus plush pod polyester ponder pop portrait power precision pressure pretzels print probability process procrastinate production pun punctuation pursuit push up puzzles quality quantity question quit rabbits race random rated read
ready recover remember remote rent repetition repetition retro right ring ritual rival roaches roll rose rubbish rubik’s rules sad safety sake salmon sand save scrap see self seltzer sense september seventies sew she sheets shite shlump sick sigh sight silkscreen sketch sketchy skip sleep slinky smirk smug sneaky socks something space spank spicy tuna spill spine spiral spirograph split spook squares stacking stairs stitch
stop stories street string stud suburban sundays surrender sushi swing symmetry tall tangle tapes target teeth test theatre things thirty two thread time tiny to do toes torn towers toys trapped tulips tv type undulation uniball unicorns urban utopia view village vision vocabulary voyeuristic wars web wham what whatever when whimsy whine white whose wiggle willow window wit with wood words yearn yiddish yo zesty
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whose she?
really...
“whose she” is a catalog of theoretical barbara rose zuckermans. here she is presented in all her many personalities. the works in this catalog may or may not exist as explained or depicted. the “artist” reserves the right to be funny and or ironic if applicable. some of the things she says are made up, but much of it is true. all work was most likely created by the artist in the twenty first century.*
this catalog was a piece published in conjunction with the “whose she?” exhibition held april 21 - may 1, 2006 in rosenwald-wolf gallery, in philadelphia pa. * the “artist” also wants you to know she is well aware that “whose” should actually be “who is,” and she thanks you kindly for your grammatical concerns. special thanks to:
bb, dc, pk, sv, lkc, az,+ sz
photos editor type paper design
oscar baren + ezra mesa zorba buckman frank gothic moe hawk bz designstuff / bzdesignstuff.com
visit us eventually:
whoseshe.com
© 2006 barbara rose zuckerman. all rights reserved. no part of this catalog may be reproduced without permission of the artists. this catalog was printed in a limited edition of 200.
becka berman samara burck karen crumb norma erazmus sara kramer roe kusama ezra mesa zoe ramone amber sorren mona zaber