Time to Pretend
The Recap thinks about faking it and making it
If you enjoy what an artist makes, does it matter if the work reflects who they really are? Many of the artists in this round of The Recap obscure details, create characters, or in some way are not who they seem to be, while others struggle with the identities imposed on them.
But first- The weekly music selections for February on the website were- Sabine McCalla, Morgan Nagler, Self Improvement, and a beautiful live performance by Julianna Barwick and Mary Lattimore. February’s playlist includes these songs plus music by Sudan Archives, Charm School, Hirons, Rico Ace, Gorillaz and more.
EsDeeKid, also included on February’s playlist, is an anonymous, mask wearing rapper from Liverpool, England. There was also a rumor that he was actually Timothée Chalamet, something the actor did not directly deny. At the end of December however, a remix of EsDeeKid’s 4Raws was released with Chalamet rapping and starring in the video along with a still masked EsDeeKid, potentially ending the speculation.
Another musician who may or may not be from England is Jim E. Brown. He describes himself as a 19-year-old alcoholic singer-songwriter from Didsbury, Manchester. Despite both his appearance and lack of a Mancunian accent, he remains committed to the character in interviews and performances. His lyrics are mostly complaints about love and health issues, with occasional references to British locations, chain stores, and pub food. After doing a little research on his background, it turns out he’s most likely a former filmmaker from Philadelphia. Comedy, music, performance art, or something in between, I still ended up with The Queue at Greggs stuck in my head after listening. He’s currently on his world tour.
Andy Kaufman’s characters and performances, and his extreme dedication to them, often left people wondering what the “real” Andy was like. For a double feature I watched Alex Braverman’s recent documentary on Kaufman’s life Thank You Very Much, along with Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond, a behind the scenes look at when Jim Carrey played Kaufman in the 1999 film, Man on the Moon.
Many of Kaufman’s experiments in comedy are well known. Thank You Very Much features several, including his famous characters Latka Gravas, from the TV show Taxi, the abrasive washed-up lounge singer Tony Clifton, and later his professional wrestling villain who would only wrestle women. Braverman’s film explores Kaufman’s childhood and family relationships, his use of transcendental meditation, and includes interviews with many of those who knew him best (including artist Laurie Anderson who worked with him as an audience “plant”) in an attempt to discover his possible motivations behind the work.
When Kaufman died in 1984 at 35 years old, many wondered if this, too, was just another performance. Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond combines footage from the filming of Man on the Moon, where Jim Carrey remained in character as Andy on and off set, with contemporary interviews where he discusses both that experience and his career. Carrey also claims at one point that Kaufman was directly involved in this portrayal. Whether he really believes this, was using it as a way to work out his own personal issues, or was just playing another role in these interviews years later, is never fully clear. It is fun to watch these films back to back to see the similarities in the comedians and to see the actors who appears in both, like Danny DeVito.
Earlier this month Jim Carrey was in the news when a makeup artist made a post claiming he wore a mask of his face and impersonated him at an award show in France. This led to people questioning whether this was true, as it was plausible that Carrey might have done this as a prank, and many thought he also looked slightly different in photos from the event. It was false, however, and the photos the makeup artist used for evidence were found to be AI generated.
Doubles and issues of identity were present in several of the works in the exhibition Dreamworld: Surrealism at 50 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. With multiple sections devoted to different aspects of the artistic movement, it was also a chance to see how artists began to use their unconscious mind for inspiration. Some, like Dorothea Tanning, incorporated the mysterious elements they discovered into personal works that also challenged their societal roles.
At the Barnes Foundation nearby was Henri Rousseau: A Painter’s Secrets. Many of Rousseau’s paintings have a strangeness to them, or contain dreamlike imagery similar to the works that would be created later by the Surrealists.
After working as a customs officer for most of his life, Rousseau began his artistic career when he was 49. His paintings were often subject to criticism and ridicule, but whether this affected him or not is unclear. He also played with the truth at times, including claims that his travels influenced his jungle paintings, despite having never left the country. Through he never fully achieved the success he had hoped for in his lifetime, appreciation for his unique style and skill grew substantially after his death. He is also a good example of the importance of an unwavering belief in yourself and your work.
Determining how you are perceived is not always in your control and opinions are often influenced by depictions in the media. This was explored in Delaware Art Museum’s Imprinted: Illustrating Race. Organized with the Norman Rockwell Museum, it included work from the past and present, both positive and negative.
Norman Rockwell is typically associated with paintings of idealized American life (one work has even become a meme), but he was also an advocate for civil rights. Featured in the exhibition was his 1965 painting Murder in Mississippi, based on the murders of Michael Schwerner, James Chaney, and Andrew Goodman, three young civil rights workers who were in Mississippi to expand voter registration.
Artist Nick Cave created his series of Soundsuits sculptures as a response to racial injustice.
From the Columbus Museum of Art about the work pictured above-
Nick Cave’s Soundsuits are sculptural costumes, some of which were made to be worn, others to remain stationary. Although these suits often appear whimsical and joyful, they also respond to suffering and injustice. Cave created his first suit in response to the beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers in 1991, an event that focused attention on discriminatory policing and racial profiling. Reflecting the artist’s lived experience as an African American man, the Soundsuits camouflage the wearer’s body, concealing markers of race, gender, and class.
Mammoth, Cave’s latest exhibition, recently opened at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington D.C.
From SAAM about the exhibition-
In Mammoth, Nick Cave invites visitors to walk among the fantastical remains of these ancient creatures. His new project envisions a world animated by the power of the past and the transformative possibilities of the imagination.
and
Focused on the fundamental connections between people and their environment, Cave asks how we can begin to make sense of our relationship with a landscape that continues to evolve. How might we adapt, persevere, even thrive? As the contemporary world increasingly challenges what it means to be human, Cave envisions a space of both grief and possibility.
While many paintings in the Jerrell Gibbs exhibition, No Solace in the Shade at Brandywine Museum of Art featured his friends and family in moments taken from life, others also included imaginary elements, like the painting above.
From the museum about this work-
Gibbs lived in Paris during the summer of 2022 in preparation for his first major solo exhibition there. Inspired by the city’s historical architecture and iconic museums, he created a series of works that reinterpret paintings by French Impressionists.
The figure here functions as an avatar for Gibbs, who, in an attempt to address the intimidation of being in Paris-one of the centers of European art-dives into the Seine to escape from the weight and performance of art history.
Sometimes when you are allowed to truly be yourself, especially after jettisoning the parts that don’t feel right, you can reach new levels of success. Olympic figure skating champion Alysa Liu is a perfect example. Coming out of retirement and empowered with a newfound control over her career and creativity, she brought an infectious joy to audiences with her positive attitude and gold medal winning performance at the 2026 Olympics.
In 2024, footage of the band MGMT at Wesleyan University in 2003 playing what would become their massive 2008 hit Kids, went viral. Part of its charm is their goofy lack of affectation, unaware of their future success. While they did become more cynical with fame, they predicted those feelings in the lyrics of another of their big hits, Time to Pretend (video below), which they also wrote in college.
Spring has arrived in the Northern Hemisphere, bringing with it the potential for new beginnings. If you’ve been craving a personal reinvention after a long winter, or are just planting seeds for a later bloom, I hope the additional daylight brings enjoyment to whatever you create and whoever you choose to be. Until next time!