It is one of the more striking figures ever to greet visitors in the Zilkha Gallery’s exhibition space: the translucent and glowing, arms outstretched, super-human-sized “Jupiter,” work of New Haven-based artist Robert Taplin. This first (and largest) piece represents one of five doubled sculptures, each a pair of male forms, that comprise Taplin’s “Five Outer Planets”—Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.
The exhibition opened in Zilkha on Thursday, Jan. 24 with a punch-and-veggies reception, a brief concert by renowned contrabassist Mark Dresser, and a good deal of shock and awe.
“I was really taken walking into the gallery,” said Andrew Vernon-Jones ’05. “It’s so different from anything I’ve seen here in the past few years.”
General reaction to the massive figures—the only light in the darkened gallery—echoed that of Vernon-Jones. Gary Monserud, a professor of Law at the New England School of Law and a long-time follower of the artist, described the project as “imaginative [and] ambitious.”
“The technical skill is unbelievable and unique—unique in the true sense of the word,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Indeed the imposing sculptures, some suspended from the ceiling and others mounted on massive pedestals, occupy the room in a way not often seen. As one student noted, to use the upper level of an exhibition space is rare. But the artist’s employ of floor and mid-air space too, is stunning.
“It’s hard to ‘fill’ Zilkha because it’s an expansive room,” said Assistant Events Manager Susan Tveekrem. “[Taplin’s exhibit] takes up the space not only side to side, but vertically.”
Each sculpture consists of two identical figures, one of fiberglass and one of plaster. During the day, the translucent fiberglass body’s subtle lighting is hardly noticeable, and its plaster mate is the salient one of the two. As light falls in the room, however, the fiberglass figures begin to glow with a God-like intensity, and eventually become the only light in the gallery.
Conceptually, Taplin’s work is based in Roman mythology and personal history. Each of the doubled figures in “The Five Outer Planets” represents both a planet in the outer part of our solar system and a member of Taplin’s own family, and is thus endowed with both a mythic story and a more modern commentary. The Roman mythology is, as Taplin commented, “a brutal story of patricide.” How this relates symbolically to Taplin’s own life is open to interpretation: in describing the myth of the Titans, the artist did not reveal their connection to his familial biography.
Jupiter (Zeus in Greek myth), the first sculpture in the system, symbolizes the mightiest and wisest of Titans, “the father of gods and men.” This Olympian gained his power by slaying his father, Saturn. These massive, identical, mated figures— overweight, arms outreached as if striving and toes curled as if made tense by the strain —represent Taplin himself.
Saturn, then, the second pairing in the group, embodies not only his Roman identity, but also that of Taplin’s own father. Arms crossed behind his back, his face highly expressive, Saturn is no smaller and no less physically imperfect than his son: big belly, bald head. Back to back he stands with his identical mate.
The pattern of patricide that launched Jupiter into power actually began with Saturn’s own murder of his father, Uranus, here represented in an almost fetal position, significantly smaller than his son and grandson. These Uranuses are life-sized, tumbling mirror-image-like in an eternal summersault as they both hang suspended in mid-air.
Neptune and Pluto, the two final “planets” in the solar system, represent Taplin’s two brothers, as well as the two other sons of Saturn. Neptune, the god of the sea, here slightly smaller than the average human, swims free in the air coupled with his pair. Pluto, god of the dead, is toddler-sized, squatting in mirror-reflection of his mate, heads bowed, making contact only at the toes.
“[This work] is an interweaving of physical data about the planets and the mythological story implied by their names,” Taplin said, introducing his exhibition to the audience. According to Taplin, each of the figures was sculpted using proportions corresponding to the individual characteristics of the actual planets in the solar system.
Each sculpture also received the attention of renowned bassist Mark Dresser, long-time friend of Taplin, whom the artist commissioned to compose short pieces for the gallery opening. These works—“fifty percent written, fifty percent improvised,” according to Dresser—are individually inspired by the sculptures and will be included in the soon-to-be-released catalogue for the show.
Dresser played each theme in a different tuning so that each sounded in harmony with its mythic influence. Jupiter’s theme was tumultuous, low, sliding and full of desperate intensity. Saturn’s, more joyous and a little funkier “mardi-gras sound,” ended hard and loud—“violently,” said Dresser, “as I knew it had to,” in accordance with its muse’s mythological end.
“It was beautiful for me,” Dresser said after his performance, which received loud applause from the audience. “I was nervous as could be. But I’m just honored to work with a master artist like Robert.”
After the music ended and the crowds began to circulate once again, a lively Taplin chatted with the friends and admirers around him, joking about the difficulties of hanging 16-foot figures from the ceiling. The project, he said, has been in the works for six years, but was destined for Zilkha from the get-go.
“Early on I thought about it as something that could go in this space,” said Taplin. The Zilkha exhibition is the first time “Outer Planets” has been together as an ensemble, though “Jupiter” has been displayed solo in other galleries. Taplin has been a recognized sculptor for years: in 1988 he received the National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship and last year was awarded the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship.
“I’ve seen the generation of his work,” said Thomas Jones, a friend of the artist. “I don’t know where he’ll go next but where it has come out is wonderful.”
“The Outer Planets” will be on display in the Zilkha Gallery until Feb. 29.
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