Reneke Dijkstra, video stills fromI See a Woman Crying (Weeping Woman), 2009-10,
on view through August 21 at Marian Goodman Gallery in NYC.
Dijkstra's 12-minute piece trains the camera on a group of British schoolchildren on a trip to the Tate Liverpool, as they react to and discuss Picasso's 1937 painting of his mistress Dora Maar. I love what New York Times critic Roberta Smith has to say about the children's comments (among them that Picasso has painted "how it would feel on the inside"):
This piece is like a primer for looking at art. It confirms the paramount importance of openness, and the willingness to examine everything that crosses one’s mind. Grasping at straws can lead to solid ground that can feel remarkably universal.
Pablo Picasso, Weeping Woman, 1937.