Monument Odessa, Christian Boltanski

Episode 281 (revised Episode 68). I’m David Cateforis with another Art Minute from the Spencer Museum of Art. In the Twentieth and Twenty-First Century gallery, four black-and-white photographs of children are arranged in a triangular configuration on the wall. Black electrical cords sprouting glowing yellow light bulbs snake around the pictures, creating the effect of an altar lit by memorial candles. There is something familiar about these black-and-white images but they are slightly fuzzy, like memories faded by the passage of time. Perhaps we’ve seen these faces before, in the pages of Life magazine or in old documentary footage. Maybe they remind us of the book jacket photo on The Diary of Anne Frank, whose teenage author died in the Holocaust. The French artist, Christian Boltanski, created the Spencer’s mixed-media work in 1991. He titled it Monument Odessa, referring to a Ukrainian town with a past history of Jewish persecution. Boltanski often uses photographs and other ephemeral objects to comment on how we remember the past. Monument Odessa is certainly memorable. “Remember the plight of these children,” it seems to say, “lest we suffer to repeat the horrors of the past.” With thanks to Nancy Hernandez for her text, from the Spencer Museum of Art, I’m David Cateforis.

Three black-and-white, close-up pictures of children are placed strategically around a bigger close-up picture of another child. Four light bulbs surround each picture and the cords hang off the artwork. You are looking at Monument Odessa by Christian Boltanski. Christian Boltanski, born in 1944 in Paris, is one of the most distinguished contemporary artists known for his often “startling” artwork. Boltanski had a Jewish upbringing and in 1958, he became an artist when he decided that the little child inside of him has died. This provides an insight as to why so much of his artwork deals with topics such as death and remembrance. Boltanski likes to tell his personal story through art, whether it is real or fictional. In much of his work, including Monument Odessa, Boltanski takes faces from a picture of a crowd and blows them up to create modern effects that clearly distinguish his work. His pieces are usually regarded as disturbing or frightening and perplex the viewer. Monument Odessa can be perceived as ominous and dark. The haunting gazes of the children, the bizarre and perturbing setup captivate the viewer’s eyes, and then their mind. Questions start to form as you survey the striking piece. You see the light bulbs softly illuminating each blurry faces. You see the disarray of cords hanging from the art in a grotesque fashion. Why are the light bulbs there? What do they represent? What about the display of cords, what do they symbolize? Do the cords symbolize the ties and the relationship between the children? Then what about those children? Who are those children? Could the children possibly be from the Holocaust? Why does Boltanski portray the children’s faces in such a sinister and frightening way? Usually, children are associated with innocence and lightness but in Monument Odessa, Boltanski draws the viewer’s eyes with dark and heavy portrayal of the children. This provocative artwork certainly raises questions and in Monument Odessa, Boltanski leaves you to answer the questions yourself and to make your own interpretation of his work. This was Yu Kyung Lee from Southwest Jr. High with another Bulldog podcast.