Alex Bierk: Memory, Memory, Memory at Mulherin

This exhibit of small monochrome water based drawings evokes a consistent sense of small town ennui and alienation. Windows viewed from outside; photo-sourced scenes of railroads, store fronts and dark nights images punctuated by bursts of light; and pieces composed solely of words make up the bulk of this show. Arranged in stacked rows semi-salon style, they read as a diary arrangement of inter-titled film stills around the theme of estrangement, drift and longing. The simple and direct handling of the images in ink wash, watercolor and gouache allows the viewer to focus on the emerging narrative.

A handful of the pieces give clues to a life in and around sobriety. ‘Intergroup Window,’ 2017 like a number of the images, depicts a lit window at night, from outside. Within, stacked on top of school-type lockers, and underneath a stretch of duct work, are boxes marked “New Life Group”. Above, the top edge of the window frame is the wavy line of an old aluminum window awning. The area around the window is entirely black placing the viewer out in the dark. Even though, the lit interior, drab and generic, holds little promise of comfort in and of itself, the artist conveys a sense of desire and longing to be brought in the the promises of, presumably, sobriety.

Bierk frequently uses the window from without as a means of creating a feeling of obfuscation and distance. Not only is the window in ‘Abandoned Window,’ 2017 surrounded by an impermeable brick wall, but the broken and darkened window denies entry giving the viewer no escape and inverting the traditional use of window as a way of opening up space. ‘GE At Dusk,’ 2017, also speaks to impassability, as the subject is viewed through an impeccably rendered chain link fence. Though there may be some thoughts about the subject of an electrical plant that happens to look like row houses, the fence itself is the real subject here.

In contrast to that shallow space other images utilize deep one point perspective, including the image of a train track disappearing into the distance through several iron bridges. In the distance a lone silhouette figure crosses the tracks. Bierk is able to ring truth and depth from what could have been a cliche. As a teenager and young man I hitchhiked extensively in Canada and these images recall for me the feeling of poignant and bittersweet loneliness that frequently occurred traveling through small towns and cities.

Though these could take place in any small town that time has left behind, Bierk’s narrative is personal and specific. ‘Water Tower,’ 2017, depicts the town name Peterborough on the lit water tower floating in the night blackness like a blimp. Peterborough, Ontario is the town where Bierk grew up and returned to in recent years. The words ‘Memory, memory, memory’ recur as a stand alone throughout the exhibit and serve as a pointer within the poetic images. The move is literal, but entirely effective. Returning to a place one has grown up can produce a strange dreamy quality, as everything is familiar and yet not true to the recreations that occur in remembering. The magic of this exhibit, though, is that Bierk has succeeded in transmuting his personal and specific memory experience into something universal and palpably accessible.

Alex Bierk; Memory, Memory, Memory will be on view at Mulherin New York, 124 Forsyth St, NY 10002, through September 3, 2017