Art

Review: Historias Paralelas by Tamara Rosenblum

Photo Credit: oldwestbury.edu

The Amelia A. Wallace Gallery at the State University of New York at Old Westbury is hosting an art exhibition titled “Historias Paralelas (Parallel Stories)” by Tamara Rosenblum.

Tamara Rosenblum is a video artist and a professor of time-based media in New York and Paris. Her father was a Chilean actor who passed away on January 30, 2023.

In 2018, she was a finalist for the Cisneros Fontanals Emerging Artist Grant. Then, in 2021, she was a finalist for the Creative Capital Award.

Her art includes video, performance, installation, and photography. Rosenblum’s art has been exhibited in New York, Indianapolis, and Los Angeles. Her work has also appeared in editorials published by Powerhouse Press and The Village Voice.

The Performing Arts Initiative of Suny Old Westbury sponsored the exhibition and the performance program.

Tamara Rosenblum’s exhibition consists of three rooms with videos. Each video places the viewer in the physical, emotional, and temporal spaces occupied by her in the past.

The first video was a solo by the artist. In this film, a snippet from the 1987 play was shown along with Rosenblum’s parents.

The second video features Rosenblum’s mother, father, sister, niece, and nephew.

The third video features Tamara Rosenblum as she is. 

The videos had good resolution, but they were hard to understand. The concept portrayed by the artist was very abstract.  

The exhibition was not that great because there were only three videos to tell a story that was confusing at first, but when you read the paper provided outline the content about the exhibitor and the videos, it is easier to understand what the author is trying to portray.

In my opinion, the videos were boring. Many students went to the exhibition, but I noticed that the majority walked away after a minute or two after.

I asked some students about their impression of the exhibition and not all people liked the videos that were presented.

An accounting student, Luis Palm, who visited the art exhibition said, “I had a hard time understanding what the videos were about. After I read the description of each video, I thought they were powerful because they reflected what women go through in our society today. The woman in the story became pregnant by a monster at a young age. Therefore, she was going to have a monster for a child.”

While the exhibit itself showcases an interesting topic and story, the execution left much to be desired.

The exhibition ends on March 9th at 5 p.m.

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