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Extra Virgin: The Stained Glass of Judith Schaechter by Alex Baker and Judith Schaechter. Philadelphia: Free News Projects, 2006. 192pp, $65 (ISBN 0-9776523-190000, distributed by Gingko Press). Judith Schaechter has extraordinary visions and the technical inventiveness and virtuosity to realize them. More than twenty years ago she found that painting could not contain either the narrative or emotional minutiae that interested her, so she turned to stained glass. It was a medium with a less-contested history, and Schaechter made it her own. To say that she makes stained glass is like saying that Matisse used stencils, or Chuck Close finger-painting. Yes, but... The emotional power of Schaechter’s work comes from its unexpected contrast: her seductive use of the radiantly-polychrome beauty of exquisitely-crafted glass to tell stories of violence and pain. It is largely a personal iconography, although a few works refer to communal subjects (Roadkill Ophelia, Judith and the Head of Holofernes). Schaechter presents a world of nightmares which mine a particularly dark area of experience and the psyche (Caught in a Flood, Murder and Child, Seizures). Many of her images imply a larger narrative that the titles only hint at (Rape Serenade, Still Life with Bankrobber), leaving the viewer to imagine the rest of the story. Alex Baker discusses the artist’s origins and development as well as her exacting and innovative technique with great clarity. He explores her subject matter and the diversity of her sources, which include underground music and comics as well as the history of both fine and decorative arts. Baker situates her work within contemporary artistic debates around both suitable subjects and acceptable styles. Extra Virgin: The Stained Glass of Judith Schaechter documents the artist’s career in appropriate richness, precision, detail, and full color. It illustrates a group of her graphite drawings, sixty-nine full-page color images of works (with some enlarged details), and contains the artist’s discussion of her technique, as well as Baker’s excellent article. A one-page biography and abbreviated list of exhibitions leaves the book with the emphasis where it belongs: on the images. The only improvement I would wish for would be illustration page references in Baker’s article, which would make it easier to follow. The book’s designer has imaginatively mirrored the artist’s technique with spot-varnished lettering on the cover, and end-pages with a mosaic of Schaechter’s images that evokes both her frequent use of patterning and the technique of laminated glass. The book is a beautiful thing in itself. Nothing will replace the experience of actually seeing one of Schaechter’s pieces, with light glistening through the glass. But her demanding technique necessarily means a slow production; so for anyone who has not seen one of the hundred and sixty-five works she has produced over the past twenty years, this splendid book is a worthy teaser. Those of us who have seen them, and anyone interested in contemporary art will find it a very welcome record of a singular figure in the American art world. Free News Projects has lived up to its ambition to support artists and should be roundly congratulated for a valuable and very beautiful publication that honors its subject.
© 2007 Andrea Kirsh and InLiquid.com; image copyright © Judith Schaechter and Free News Projects |
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