Author | Annie Malamet | Visual Arts Editor
In the wake of the recent Isla Vista shootings, it is more important than ever to question the social constructs that make up the landscape of white, American masculinity. In his disturbing misogynist and racist manifesto, Elliot Rodger was certainly clear about his hatred towards women, but targeted as well were the men in his mind that Rodger saw as in competition with him. He disparaged men of color, “ugly” men, men he perceived as “wimpier” than him; he was appalled that these men obtained girlfriends over him. As a relatively attractive, wealthy, white-passing man, Rodger was promised the world on a plate, and that entrée included any woman he wanted. When he didn’t get what he desired he blamed women’s autonomy, but he also pointedly placed himself in competition with other men.
This toxic image of the “ideal” man that pervades and plagues the white male psyche is why Jon Ervin’s photographic installation, Man Up, is compelling to me. Currently on view at the School of Visual Arts Chelsea gallery location, Ervin’s show is comprised of poster sized photographs, three video pieces, and a wall of trophies. The installation reads a sort of mock-up of the traditional American boy’s bedroom. A poster depicting Ervin as an astronaut hangs in between a television on a nightstand and the trophy wall. The poster is crumpled and damaged; indicating years of being lovingly handled and held up as the ultimate male hero. A video of the artist in a field, throwing a ball in the air and catching it over and over again until his body gives out. It is this catch game played alone that ultimately leads nowhere. A wall of trophies would indicate achievement, but these pieces bear plaques indicating nothing but mockery and failure.
“This body of work is focused around the confusion and frustration embedded in male culture,” reads the first sentence of Ervin’s artist statement. “I place masculinity in opposition to itself as a gesture of pushing back against the boundaries and pressures within male culture…I am playing with the lines of masculinity that men abide by, everyday, in an attempt to expose the discrepancies and the homosocial absurdities that exist.” Ervin is most interested in men’s relationships with each other and the love, jealousy, and resentment that are often intrinsic to them.
Other pieces include a wall of videos showing various white men in their underwear chugging cans of beer in one take. In another video entitled “How to be a Cowboy,” the artist appears in typical cowboy regalia, following along to a trick rope instructional video. A large framed photograph of Ervin in a suit adjusting his sleeves stares coldly out at the viewer in the center of the installation. However, my favorite piece is a carriage of posters exactly like one you might find at Spencer’s Gifts. The viewer can flip through the display posters, which range from comical shirtless male selfies to shots of body builders. You can even take the packaged versions home with you.
Ervin has begun to address the way young white men mimic each other. He attempts to show how men perpetuate their own unrealistic standards, recycling the same tropes and pointing out the absurdities inherent within them. There are no women present in Ervin’s installation, and I think this may have been his smartest choice. After all, it is not women who have created these impossible, normative values. It is men’s perceptions of what women desire based on their own criteria that dominates. It is inextricably tied to standards imposed by the male gaze upon the female body and it’s purpose, i.e. if I believe women must be beautiful and always ready for me, then I in turn must always be attractive and strong, never weak.
Jon Ervin’s installation highlights cracks in the veneer of perfect masculinity. He is clearly a prolific artist and sometimes, I feel the pieces are a bit too disjointed, almost like he bit off a bit more than he could chew. I believe more focus on what exactly it is about homosocial relationships between men that interests Ervin would behoove him in the future. I would also like to see more of a personal narrative in the work. It will be interesting to see what this artist does in the future given the epidemic of white male violence and more importantly, the (justified) outcry that is getting so much media attention.
Man Up is currently on display at the School of Visual Arts Gallery in Chelsea, 601 W 26th Street through June 28th.
