Pieces of bits
DA rare chance to see John O'Reilly's world series
by Leon Nigrosh
JOHN O'REILLY, THE OBJECT AS SUBJECT: PHOTOMONTAGE 1985-1998 At the Fletcher/Priest Gallery, 5 Pratt Street, through October 3.
For more than 30 years John O'Reilly has worked in his tiny Worcester studio
conceiving, photographing, and constructing his complex photomontages. Even
after he received international accolades for his haunting Of Benjamin
Britten photo series shown at the 1995 Whitney Biennial, O'Reilly still
steadfastly attempts to preserve his anonymity. This modest gentleman much
prefers to impart his messages through his painstakingly assembled photo
collages -- which are carried exclusively by Howard Yezerski Gallery in
Boston.
This is why it is such a pleasure to see O'Reilly's small masterpieces
displayed here in Worcester at the Fletcher/Priest Gallery. Together (with
Yezerski's permission) O'Reilly and gallery owner Terri Priest searched through
his voluminous personal collection and chose 21 images from several different
series that O'Reilly developed during the past 13 years. Each work is an
original, containing dozens of hand-cut bits of Polaroid film, meticulously
assembled and attached to create sometimes peaceful, sometimes jarring, but
always captivating, images that reflect O'Reilly's thoughts.
Among his earliest works is Self-Portrait, Age 7 Mos., a 3x5 inch
assemblage of snippets of historical child paintings, a kitchy "David"
knock-off, kids' building blocks, and a small Picasso. Look closely, and you'll
find a tiny head shot of the artist, too. Childhood Still-Life from the
same year employs similar elements -- classical paintings, a Weston photograph,
and an adult image of himself in a childlike position -- but with palpably more
erotic overtones.
Being the perfectionist he is, when O'Reilly is not satisfied with the way one
of his collages turns out, he puts it away for another time. He first started
working on The Bridge as part of the childhood series in 1987. He just
recently reworked the piece, which is filled with crayons, alphabet blocks,
marbles, and a Corot painting alongside one of Eadweard Muybridge's classic
serial photos of a man jumping. Together they create a feeling of innocence
that is about to be lost.
O'Reilly is not afraid to let us in on the tools of his trade. In Beneath
Cupid, he shows us his seamlessly arranged pushpins, triangles, strips of
glass, crumpled Polaroid strips, found picture frames, and pirated
reproductions. It is in fact his adept splicing that projects his images into a
different plane. The tiny intentional misalignments that he often sets up,
subtly change the scope of a work to create a disturbing sense of anxiety. He
even uses a number 000 brush to tint his cut edges so that they won't cast a
disrupting reflection. With the aid of a magnifying glass, we can see the
extent of the alterations O'Reilly performs on a particular piece. This
close-up analysis is akin to learning how a magician does his tricks. But in
this case, after we learn how O'Reilly does it, his finished work becomes even
more astounding to contemplate.
O'Reilly's most powerful images come from his War series and his Of
Benjamin Britten group, both of which revolve around themes related to
battle. His War Series #14 S/1/C Lost at Sea, Anzio, Italy, 1944 is the
last available photomontage from this group. In it, an old master head of Jesus
and that of an anonymous WW II soldier are pressed together, tongues entwined
in a steamy kiss. This electric juxtaposition calls forth many emotional
explanations. One interpretation could be that these two figures gave their
lives so that others might live. Other theories have been less kind.
This picture and Occupied Territory #4 -- Wolf, a stark image of a
German soldier's head atop a nude body from a soft core magazine can be seen as
heavily homoerotic. Yet, like Armand with its smartly uniformed sailor
near Jesus on the cross and Winter with a German soldier framed by a
crinkled photo of an explosion, these thoughtful compositions lay bare the
fortunes (or misfortunes) of war as envisioned by O'Reilly.
Separately, O'Reilly's photomontages are mesmerizing. Together, they are
potent evidence of the total commitment he has made to his art as he continues
to perfect his already perfect techniques involved in creating riveting images
that constantly reveal more of themselves with each viewing.
The gallery is open Wednesday and Thursday from noon to 6 p.m. and by
appointment. Call 791-5929.