String Along With The Puppet Show

By Aide Ramirez

The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston displays the Puppet Show Exhibition through April 12. The exhibit looks at the imagery of the puppets used in contemporary art.
The Puppet Show concentrates on sculpture, video and photography and brings together several generations of artists from around the world.  Organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania, the Puppet Show is co-curated by Ingrid Schaffner, senior curator at ICA; Toby Kamps, senior curator at CAMH; and Carin Kuoni, director of The Vera List Center for Art and Politics at New York.
“The Puppet show is the first major survey of the imagery of puppets in contemporary art,” said Kamps,  It asks why so many interesting artists are thinking about and using puppets, it makes me wonder if we are all puppets to some degree.  Are we motivated by our bodies and appetites and desires, our intellects and our rational or irrational thoughts, or by forces  of society, religion, and governments?”
The Puppet Show includes puppets as figures   such as marionettes, shadow puppets and ventriloquist dummies.  The exhibit reveals the evocative topics associated with puppetry such as manipulation, miniaturization, power and control.
The exhibition opens with an installation dubbed, “Puppet Storage.” The plywood structure is filled with pictures, props and other source material collected from artist studios as well as a historic collection of puppets from the Ballad Institute and Museum of                                       Puppetry at the University of Connecticut.
The exhibit shows how puppets have taken hold of pop consciousness by way of films, theater, computer games and animation.  For example, Alfred Jarry’s 1896 play “Ubu Roi,” is one of the current Puppet Show exhibits. Considered by many to be the first dramatic work of the theater of the absurd, “Ubu Roi” (translated as “King Ubu” or “King Turd”) is an allegory of anarchy that uses drama and perhaps obscene humor to comment on art, literature, politics, ruling class and controversial issues.
“The puppets project human feelings that not even humans can actually reveal,” said Jan Yauch, museum visitor. “It is impressive how artists ironically use puppets as a medium to reveal what they think and to comment on controversial issues.”
Some parts of the Puppet Show exhibition contain adult content. Parents, caregivers and educators are strongly advised to preview the exhibition before bringing children.
Connie McAllister, communication and marketing manager at CAMH, also recommends a visit to the second exhibit that is taking place on the first floor, the exhibition made by Houston-area teens titled Perspectives 165: Contents Under Pressure, “where more than 40 teen-aged artists are represented with works ranging from photography and painting to sculpture and video.”
All of the following events are free and open for the public Tuesday though Sunday.  For additional information about exhibits, visit www.camh.org