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New Art Examiner, March 1989
N.A.M.E. Gallery
700 N. Carpenter St., 312/226-0671
Review by Robert M. Tilendis
"A Year in the Life of Joe Z . . ." comprises 365 photographs
presented as 12 framed panels, each panel arranged like a calendar page,
with four-by-five-inch images laid out as the days of the month. The basic
idea of the project was to document, every day for the year 1987, the events-or
lack of events-in Chicago artist Joe Ziolkowski's life. The criteria for
selection were simple: what happened each day, who he was with, how the
image looked as a photograph, and how it fit with the preceding images.
No text or other clues were provided except for the date on each image.
The images thus became cryptic entries in a diary, individually puzzling,
but as a group providing a narrative.
Autobiography is a fundamental source of art; for Ziolkowski, it is a
central focus. The autobiographical content of the best-known group of
Ziolkowski's works, the stark, crisp nudes from the series "Beyond
Boundaries," "Confront the Issue," or the numbered series
of suspended figures, is symbolic-the context and imagery are gay-oriented-but
the larger issues-acceptance and rejection, the quality of personal relationships,
the feeling of aloneness with which we all must contend-are all apparent.
"A Year in the Life," on the other hand, is solely specific,
personal, and ultimately mundane, which gives it an unanticipated breadth
and force of meaning.
This is a deceptive work; we are thrown off track, at first, by the commonness
of the imagery, bemused by the sheer number of apparently trivial events.
Yet the context of the work grows slowly in the viewer's mind, as everyday
images begin to spark recognition-a feeling of, "This, too, is my life;
these are the things I do, as well." Ziolkowski found that daily routines,
those almost-rote activities that may take up time but not a great deal
of thought, took on more importance, more meaning, as he examined them through
his camera. The result, a series of self-portraits in which the artist
is usually but not always present, evoke a sense of community simply because
they represent the commonality of daily life.
Price range: $1,400 per panel.
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