Laurel Nakadate: Only the Lonely Review

“Ultimately, “Only the Lonely” succeeds because of Nakadate’s vulnerability, assertive sexuality, and fearless honesty. 365 Days conveys a static charge, inviting a certain level of interaction with the viewer.”

Nakadate, Laurel, 365 Days: A Catalogue of Tears, 2010. Installation shot. Photo credit: Matthew Septimus.

Laurel Nakadate: Only the Lonely Review

Anatole Ashraf

Laurel Nakadate (born 1975) is an American photographer, video, and performance artist based in New York City. She has been exhibiting her work since 2002, and in 2005 art critic Jerry Saltz called her a “standout” at the “Greater New York” show at MoMA P.S.1. In addition to photography and video, Nakadate is also known for two feature-length films, one of which—“The Wolf Knife” (2010)—was nominated for a 2010 Gotham Award and won a 2011 Independent Spirit Award. “Only the Lonely” is Nakadate’s first large-scale, solo museum exhibition. Organized by Klaus Biesenbach, the show brings together Nakadate’s new series of photographs and her works from the last ten years.

Although the exhibition features videos, photographs, and her two feature-length films, Nakadate calls most of her work “performances,” and as such, the works give the impression of being performances first and foremost. The show may feature videos and photographs, but Nakadate’s primary medium seems to be performance—dancing in the desert, crying in her room, throwing her underwear off an Amtrak train, engaging strangers as subjects, etc.—with the collection serving as documentation of her efforts. In the video series, Oops! (2000), Nakadate invites three men to dance with her as she re-creates the choreography of Britney Spears’ “Oops…I Did It Again” in their homes. Many of these videos were made on a cross-country trip during which the artist invited herself into the homes of single men she met through Craigslist. The result is a haunting, voyeuristic collection (with a hint of the sinister) that emphasizes loneliness and a longing to find a connection with others.

The theme of loneliness is far better presented in 365 Days: A Catalogue of Tears (2010). A “performance” lasting from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010, the series of photographs shows Nakadate in a moment of sorrow. The photos, masterfully staged and shot, seem to comment on the beauty of vulnerability and the tragedy of loneliness. Nakadate claims that much of her work revels in the interplay between small, personal moments and large, powerful moments, but these are frequently overshadowed by the artist’s tendency to project herself onto the works, making them more about her than her themes or subjects. The same comments could be made—and the same effects achieved—with subjects other than Nakadate.

Ultimately, “Only the Lonely” succeeds because of Nakadate’s vulnerability, assertive sexuality, and fearless honesty. 365 Days conveys a static charge, inviting a certain level of interaction with the viewer. The effect is similar to Marina Abramovic’s silent performance piece The Artist is Present (2010), only without the artist’s physical presence. Nakadate’s depictions of sorrow in various states of undress bring to mind Carol Schneemann’s Interior Scroll (1975), in which Schneemann would take nude “action poses,” capturing the moment briefly where Nakadate captures the moment for eternity. In a manner, Nakadate updates the work of such performance artists by projecting them vividly onto videos and photographs. The collection as a whole results in a comment about introspection and loneliness for the post-Britney Spears, millennial generation.

“Only the Lonely” is on view through August 8, 2011 at MoMA P.S.1, located at 22-25 Jackson Ave in Long Island City, Queens.