RAiR | 2000-01

Alexandra Wiesenfeld

Alexandra Wiesenfeld is a German-born, Los Angeles-based artist who has exhibited throughout Europe and the United States, including New York, Montana, Minneapolis, Chicago, and the West Coast. She has taught at Montana State University and the University of Iowa. Alexandra received her BFA from Pomona College and MFA from Montana State University. Her work is held in public and private collections nationally and internationally.

About her exhibition in 2001, she stated: “As of late the Monte Cervantes has been my muse—a cruise ship that ‘turned turtle’ in 1930 off the shore of Ushuaia. It took the ship and its dutiful captain two days to sink. When I saw a black and white reproduction of the half-sunken vessel, I was reminded of a Breughelesque beast of burden: a huge belly capsized with tentacles made of propellers and a rudder. Humorous, almost goofy, the shape seemed to betray the gravity of the situation and the poor captain. The ship is in a state of weightless suspension before the imminent fall, the final hurrah, watched by all. Or is it the moment after a doomed action has taken place? This suspended state is what I search for in my imagery. I see these painted ships alternately as portraits of people and a metaphor for our times.”

Alexandra Wiesenfeld’s website

Roswell Museum and Art Center

Rair exhibition • Alexandra Wiesenfeld • november 30, 2001 - january 6, 2002