Sarah Halpern @ Microscope Gallery, Brooklyn - Paper Plexus

Sarah Halpern: Paper Plexus
Microscope Gallery, Brooklyn
April 20 – May 19, 2013

Microscope Gallery presents Paper Plexus, the first solo exhibition of works by Sarah Halpern at the gallery. Using a palette of primarily black, white and the color of fading book pages, Sarah Halpern’s new and recent paper collage works draw inspiration from the Brooklyn-based artist’s active practice and interest in cinema and film – a medium she works with regularly, along with music, slide projection, and video.

Sarah Halpern’s eight collages on view are meticulous compositions interweaving cut-outs of text and images from writings on film theory, movie fan magazines as well as passages from books by S. J. Perelman. With a passion for comedy, puns and absurd pairings, the artist gives shape to alternative scenarios where perspectives collapse; text – often used simply as image – is displayed in varied sizes and directions; and characters that float free from flat surfaces cast real shadows. Sarah Halpern says of her works, “In film, I carry out an idea or movement through time. With paper I present time and movement within a single fixed image.”

Several of the collages in Paper Plexus are inspired by the artist’s discovery of “The Film Classic Library” – a series of complete re-constructions of Hollywood movies in book form – from which she has appropriated, among others, images of Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor starring in John Huston’s “The Maltese Falcon”. Freeing these references from the confines of character and plot structure, Sarah Halpern creates a layered conversation concerning film iconography and male/female relationships.

Also of significance, is the concept of the Macguffin as articulated in films by Alfred Hitchcock as a specific object driving an entire movie from start to finish. Transposing this idea into her compositions, Sarah Halpern uses minimal elements, usually surrounded by area of white of black space, in her attempt to isolate such object or image in her own work.

SARAH HALPERN works with 16mm film, collage on paper, 35mm slides, music and performance. Her work is largely focused on cinematic time and the active role of the viewer, and has been shown previously at venues including The Museum of Moving Image, The Kitchen, Participant Inc, Anthology Film Archives, and Microscope Gallery. Sarah Halpern holds a B.A. in Film and Electronic Arts from Bard College.

MICROSCOPE GALLERY
1329 Willoughby Avenue, 2B, Brooklyn, NY 11237
www.microscopegallery.com