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Contemporary Jewish Museum

Maira Kalman "Woman with Face Net"

Maira Kalman "Woman with Face Net"

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From: Contemporary Jewish Museum
Limited Edition: 45
Exhibition: Maira Kalman: Various Illuminations (of a Crazy World)
Material: Printed vinyl
Dimensions: 35" x 72" (88cm x 182cm)

Hanging Hardware Included

Summary

If you don't know the name Maira Kalman, you'll recognize her work. Remember New Yorkistan, the cartoon map of New York's boroughs and neighborhoods? From New Yorkistan covers and illustrated NYTimes blogs to fabric designs for fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi and sleek clocks for M&Co, Kalman's work is ubiquitous. Then there was her not-so-traditional coverage of the 2000 Paris fashion shows with Woman with Face Net, also featured on banners for the Maira Kalman exhibition at the Contemporary Jewish Museum.

Description

Woman with Face Net was included in Maira Kalman’s illustrated essay, Couture Voyeur, for the New York Times Magazine about the 2000 Paris runway shows. It depicts a severe-looking fashion doyen dressed in a black turtleneck with tightly cropped red hair wearing a net.

The illustration was one of four full page images in the article where Kalman “commented” on the entire couture experience. Her coverage departed from the usual portrayal of these events, but is certainly in keeping with her pattern of illuminating the contradictions of contemporary culture in both charming and disarming ways.

This exhibition was the first museum survey of Kalman’s work, featuring 100 original works on paper of illustrations for publication produced over a 30 year period. Lesser known works in photography, embroidery, textiles, and performance were also on exhibit. Hung frame-to-frame (literally), the works are a running narrative of personal memories, cultural references, pleasures and distractions, and the chaos of life’s events all told with Kalman’s lightness of touch and idiosyncratic sense of humor. As a tribute to the work and artist, female staff and volunteers at the Contemporary Jewish Museum (CJM) wore hair nets to the opening night of the exhibition.

On the front of the banner is the image of Woman with Face Net. Below the image appears the name of the exhibition in white lettering. On the other side of the banner is red and orange text that reads “Maira Kalman July 1 – Oct 26”. Below this, black and white text reads, "Contemporary Jewish Museum". The museum’s website address and location appear at the bottom of the banner.

Provenance

These banners were displayed around San Francisco from July 1 to October 26, 2010. The exhibition was curated by Ingrid Schaffner, senior curator of the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania where the show opened in early 2010. After Contemporary Jewish Museum, the exhibit traveled to the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles from November 2010 to February 2011, and then onto the Jewish Museum in New York from March 11 to July 31, 2011.

About the Artist

Learn more about Maria Kalman

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