History lessons through art

CASSANDRA SAVAGE SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN

I felt a little silly introducing myself to photographer Charles Frankenburg. The walls around us were expertly hung with portraits of the artist himself: to my left, a portrait of Frankenburg in a fancy plaid shirt, dyed red hair fluttering in the wind; to my right, a snapshot of Frankenburg on a rare snowy day in Jerusalem, dressed as a Christmas tree; straight ahead, there he was again, covered in flour. Clearly, the man standing in front of me was the artist in attendance on opening night. Still, courtesy dictated that I ask, "Excuse me. Are you Charles?"

Frankenburg's exhibit, Travels with Charley: Part II, Self-Portraits from the Land of Israel, opened at the Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery on Oct. 21. It features photographs of the artist at significant historic and political sites throughout Israel, including the Dome of the Rock, the defence barrier and a jujube tree widely believed to be the botanical source for Jesus Christ's crown of thorns.
Born in Vancouver, Frankenburg moved to Israel more than 20 years ago, seeking a culturally Jewish environment, where Christianity is less pervasive and Bing Crosby isn't a household name.

"Israel is a good place for Jews to live," he told the Bulletin in an interview following the opening. "Culturally I'm Jewish and I want to live in a land where the culture is Jewish and not Christian. I'd prefer to live in a country where you get Chanukah songs and Chanukah decorations." Today, Frankenburg works as a tour guide out of Tel-Aviv, a profession that requires a delicate awareness of Israel's landscape and history and inspires his second vocation, photography.

Religion, history and landscape are major influences in Frankenburg's life, as well as in his art. Whether Muslim, Christian, Jewish or kabbalistic, religious references appear against various backdrops throughout the exhibit. However, what stands out about these photos is not the intended effect of a visual tour of Israel but the fact that the artist appears in every single piece. The title of the exhibit should have provided a clue for what I was about to see; this was, after all, a collection of self-portraits. However, the exhibit is about much more than Frankenburg's personal journey; the topics he deals with affect millions.

"I'm using myself as an everyman," he explained. "When I say the exhibit relates to me, I'm using myself as a stand-in for the general public."

Yet instead of using various interesting, more subtle ways to convey the public scope of his work, Frankenburg places himself at the centre of the action in every photograph. The result is a blatantly self-referential exhibit that seems more private than public and more about self-exploration than the affect of history and politics on all of us.

"David," the most visually pleasing photograph in the group, shows the artist standing at the foreground of a field; the field represents the battleground in the story of David and Goliath and the artist represents David. Like a boy off to his first day of school, Frankenburg is wearing a neat shirt and tie and looks like he's about to break into a wide grin. The piece made me laugh in a sort of cruel way at the artist himself. In fact, several of the photographs had this affect on me and I was relieved when Frankenburg told me he'd hoped people would laugh at his self-effacement.

Talking about "Flour," which shows the artist covered from head to toe in flour, standing in front of a cave made of chalk-like material, Frankenburg said, "This started out as a visual joke. I was interested in taking what happens to you in the cave to an extreme in order to get a laugh out of people."

At the same time as he pokes fun at himself, Frankenburg knows where to draw the line between self-effacing humor and the seriousness of history.

"I want people to be able to distinguish between the subject matter that I'm talking about here, which is the history of the Bible, and myself," he said. "I take the history seriously but I don't take myself seriously and I'm willing to let people laugh at me."

Several pieces in the exhibit show no such trace of humor and are unambiguous in their respect for the topic at hand. "Crown of Thorns" depicts the artist with his forehead rested against a jujube tree, bleeding from the impact of the thorns.

"This is probably my hardest photograph and I would completely understand if anybody is turned off by it," he said. "I'm looking for a way to demonstrate one part of the story of Jesus and I'm always aware when I do a photograph not to take it too far. If I were to pretend to be Jesus, I know that would be offensive to Christians so I won't do it. I am not Jesus in any of these photographs. I am myself, as a stand-in."

As a package, Travels with Charley: Part II, Self-Portraits from the Land of Israel, is a thought-provoking history lesson, despite the fact that the exhibit felt more private than public, more personal than social. Frankenburg's photographs are sensitive to the complexity of history in Israel and brave in their attempt to blend humor with serious issues.

Frankenburg's exhibit continues at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver, 950 West 41st Ave., until Nov. 25. Call 604-257-5111 for gallery hours.

Cassandra Savage is a freelance writer/editor living in Vancouver.

^TOP