Multimedia artists embrace parenting as inspiration

Parenthood is one of those all-pervasive things in life that is hard to define. It's the condition of being a mother or father, sure, but it's also an endless series of actions and decisions, an intricate composite of heart-wrenching, frustrating, banal and joyful moments. How do you capture even some of that in art?

An exhibition titled "Parenthesis," which opened over the weekend at Western Bridge Gallery, raises some fascinating possibilities. Some of the artists, parents themselves, articulate ideas derived from their parenthood. Other artists focus on other parents or their own parents, exploring memories of the past or documenting moments in the present.

Guy Ben-Ner has gathered acclaim for his quirky videos that often focus on the social role of the father. In his fantastic video "Stealing Beauty," Ben-Ner filmed his family at Ikea, acting as if they really live in the ersatz kitchens and bedrooms. This quasi-sitcom is downright funny, but also fraught with musings on the nature of the family unit in our capitalist culture. In one scene, the artist's children ask for a bedtime story, promptly delivering cash to their father's outstretched hand.

Ann Hamilton's video "The Picture is Still" is quiet, meditative and almost abstract. Known for her installations of fabric and other texturally rich and historically resonant materials, Hamilton has lately been exploring the body and language, using cameras that are often held in the mouth or attached to a finger.

In "The Picture is Still," Hamilton ran a tiny surveillance camera over a photo of her son's face, getting so close to his image that we can only see partial views, details and distortions. She whispers her attempts at comprehension: "Maybe this is his mouth ... " The roving motion, black-and-white imagery and hushed soundtrack evoke a sense of detached wonder, similar to the experience many parents have when looking at their children.

Neil Goldberg's videos are completely simple and quite profound. In the video "My Father Breathing into a Mirror," the artist's father does exactly that for one minute. No sound, just the image of an old man, fogging up a mirror, and the poignant hints at life, aging and inevitable loss.

The video-intensive exhibition will be rounded out by photographs by Sally Mann and Tina Barney, among others; installations by Jennifer Zeyl and Bert Rodriguez; and performances by Rodriguez and Charles Mudede.

According to Eric Frederickson, director of Western Bridge, the idea for the exhibition was fostered by Bill True, who started noticing parenting as a subject within, or driving force behind, numerous works in the collection. We have made great strides since the days when artists — particularly women who wanted to be taken seriously in the art world — cleaved divisions between their professional and familial lives. "Parenthesis" further demonstrates that the parent-child relationship nurtures creativity.