Some people may wonder how a show centered around celebrity personality Joan Rivers might come to fruition, but Ben Tollefson isn’t afraid to admit he is the mastermind behind “Can We Talk?,” an exhibition at Le Snoot starting this Friday night.
“The idea of organizing a Joan Rivers show originally came from a personal preoccupation with her as a cultural icon. I’ve been fascinated with Joan Rivers for a long time for the fact that she has used humor and the pursuit of beauty to mask personal pain,” says Tollefson, who might consider his love for Rivers a bit of an obsession.
But Tollefson has good reasons to appreciate River’s career working on screen.
“She’s inspirational to me in that she is a pioneering female comic. When she first started out in the sixties, she had to prove herself to male-dominated scene and she has had a … career in many fields without ever losing her sense of humor,” he says on Rivers’ ability to keep a positive attitude.
Tollefson initially started milling over Rivers influence in his own work in January during The Sketchbook Show at Ashmore Gallery.
“I submitted about twenty drawings of Joan Rivers, and was surprised when several sold. I started to think about Rivers as a concept that audiences connect to and different themes that artists could explore,” he says. Tollefson asked fifteen artists in different disciplines to explore what Rivers meant to them.
As Tollefson began to see the work being produced, he realized artists were delving into greater overarching concepts connected to the idea of River’s celebrity status.
“I found that they explored a myriad of themes, from masking, beauty, fashion, personal history, plastic surgery, to humor,” says Tollefson, who says show-goers can expect “a lot of different conceptual and visual interpretations.”
As a graduate student in the painting department graduating in the fall, Tollefson was concerned the artists might focus too much on the literal translation of River’s persona.
“I was a bit worried that I might get a bunch of portraits when I first asked everyone since her face is so interesting, but that is not the case at all. There’s everything from appropriated photography to a Joan Rivers chair.”
Although none of us might get to meet Rivers in real life, perhaps gallery attendees can walk away with a better appreciation of one funny modern woman after this Friday.
For more information about the show, visit the event’s Facebook page.
