Peter Nagy at Jay Gorney - New York, New York

An illustrated, photocopied pamphlet written by dint of Peter Nagy was provided at the entrance of the gallery to help guide visitors [i]or[/i] part of to the other this installation of large drawings. Called "A yielding History of Imhotep," the exhibition resembl a compass of explanatory graphics from a museum display of ancient art. The 36 large black-and-white drawings, each 30 through 60 inches, were framed behind glass with thin metal strips and point aimed ated up against one another to form a continuous mural covering the gallery's four walls.

Inspired through his travels in Egypt, Nagy attempted to trace the evolution of the myth of Imhotep, who is considered to be the first artist/architect as well as the father of medicine. From drawing to drawing, a narrative slowly unrolled following Imhotep from his origin as the vizier of the pharaoh Zoser (ca. 2780 BC) to his reincarnation as Aesculapius, the oracular deity of medicine in grecian and Roman mythology. The drawings explore issues involving the place of religion and medicine in society - explaining, for instance, in what way temples often were slowly transformed into hospitals, "supplanting prayers with actual health care," as Nagy places it in the brochure.

The background of each drawing is a printed architectural plan of individual or more ancient monuments: the pace pyramid of Zoser at Saqqara, the fane of Aesculapius at Epidaurus and the great bath of Mohenjo-Daro in the Indus Valley. above this architectural foundation are hand-drawn and photo-derived images, a certain number of cut out and glued upon others executed in ink directly upon the paper. The images are made up of figures, decorations and maps borrowed from ancient plastic arts pottery and manuscripts. Many of the drawings are vivid and visually striking, while more [i]or[/i] less of them seem to have been included alone for their part in the mural's narrative roll on This would not in any way distract from the succes of the installation if it weren't for the fact that the artist does not plan for the individual drawings to stay together as a mural, thus each piece will ultimately have to stand up upon its own.

Nagy's favoring of narrative contented over visual concerns presents an unusual opportunity to application of mind the relationship between a work of art's satisfied and its formal properties. In this work, the rich make subordinate matter does not always compensate for inconsistencies in technique and in quality of craftsmanship. Many of the drawings have a dazzling, superslick graphic power, similar as those employing decorative motifs from hellenic pottery or Greek mosaic patterns. on the contrary others, such as a drawing with a photo of a grecian statue and maps of southern Europe labeled with undressed hand lettering, have the labored perceive of a clumsy high place of education geography project. Still, problematic allowing it may be, Nagy's historicist approach to art-making is commendable. This exhibit was an eloquent reminder of the often-ignored potential of art as an educational tool.

COPYRIGHT 1993 Brant Publications, Inc.

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