Isa Genzken: The Umbrellas in Service of Art

I don't believe I had heard of Isa Genzken until I read Peter Schjeldahl's article "VIEWS FROM THE EDGE: An Isa Genzken retrospective" in the New Yorker issue of December 2, 2013, discussing the MOMA retrospective. Thus, I did not know of her artistic involvement with umbrellas until I read Schjeldahl's description of her paternal grandfather:

Karl Genzken. A doctor and a committed Nazi, he was the head of the medical office of the S.S. and oversaw experiments on concentration-camp inmates; he was convicted of crimes against humanity at Nuremberg, and died in 1957, three years after being released from prison. According to Der Spiegel, the artist “hinted to” a friend about a childhood visit to her grandfather in prison, where she saw an open umbrella in his cell. Whether that relates to the frequent use of umbrellas in her work seems moot. It’s like Genzken to tantalize with inklings of particular import, which slip away when you try to parse them. . . .

So, that got me searching for these umbrellas. And they certainly are there! Here sre images of just a few of them: 

In a 2012 review of  her exhibition at the Hauser and Wirth gallery, we are told of how one would enter and encounter:

the startling presence of an enormous unopened garden umbrella [coupled] with a precarious jumble of posters, mannequin heads and modernist furniture. The presence of such a bizarre amalgamation of found objects creates a tangible tension, as each fragment appears to hold a certain significance that can be considered individually as well as part of a whole. The umbrella for example, in its folded and useless state, hangs inanimate. There is a sinister parallel with that of a hanged body, while the non-functioning designer furniture also lays useless on the floor. These sought-after and fashionable items have been rendered obsolete in their installation, allowing for an interesting commentary on the function of consumer driven, hyper-chic possessions in our lives.

It is harder to come up with some substantive meaning to it all, however. Some reviewers don't have much respect for umbrellas after all: In Der Spiegel, there is reference to how she "creates beauty from ugly things, even wheelchairs and shabby umbrellas." However, in "9/11 and the Literature of Terror," one work of hers is described [have not found am image to post] certainly suggests that she can use the umbrella in a powerful message:

resonated with themes of 'architecture, power and terror'. To the rear of the plinth on which her materials were assembled, Genzken placed an upturned print of Kurt Hulion's f nous photograph Grand Central Station (l(f'i4). tipped onto its side through ninety degrees, then superimposed on a perforated mesh screen vs tapping the plinth. A sinister figure imposing itself on the right-hand foreground posed ¦Mtwririgly over other figures prone on the plinth. Heaped around the bodies uas an array of found-object motifs suggesting shelter or protection abruptK withdrawn - shoes lost or discarded, a hat, tiny dolls, the umbrella that dominated the piece, its stalk rising out of the amamblage. its metal spokes twisted out of shape, the protet Live dome of the umbrella destroyed by a sudden gust, an explosive blast

 This conceit of the lost protective power of the umbrella is powerful art indeed.

Footprints and Umbrellas: Brolly Blog Goes Wandering

This is probably much more appropriate for my Internet Wandering/Wondering habits, but it is about umbrellas and comforms to my random unearthing of umbrellas in our lives. Today's link comes from India's Express News Service which tells the story of the patients of the Institute of Palliative Medicine (IPM), Kozhikode, who are eagerly looking forward to the monsoon season:

The reason, the 14,000 umbrellas made by them, some lying on the beds and some confined to wheel chairs, will be unfolded to drench the monsoon rains.

The umbrellas were made as part of "Footprints", the rehabilitation programme launched three years ago for the bed-ridden patients by the Institute of Palliative Medicine (IPM). The initiative is meant for terminally ill patients, suffering spinal disabilities owing to major accidents or diseases and often languishing in hospitals with excruciating pain and depression. Last year, more than 10,000 umbrellas manufactured by them as part of the training were sold like hot cakes.

An order for 14,000 umbrellas branded as "Footprints" has been received two months ago and the demand will soar up with the coming of the monsoon season, said IPM authorities.

While search for more information about these "umbrellas of hope" and for a visual to add to this story, I found the Institute's website, but not much else. However, what I did find, to my surprise, were several pairings for "footprints" and "umbrellas."

The first google hit (and several subsequent ones) was this children's book by Janet Dixon Clough and illustrated by Jennifer Savage Britton. A very recent volume, it is described as "From Ricky Raccoon to Tilley, My Dog and Spider to Raindrops, this collection of imaginative and readable poems brings a fresh and fun look to everyday experiences for parents and children to share. The illustrations will light up your child's imagination and kids will want to share these poems with all their friends. This is sure to be a favorite book in every child's library." Unfortunately, this description gives rise to neither footprints nor umbrellas, so I guess raindrops will have to do for our connection to the umbrellas of hope.

Lyrics | Squeeze lyrics - Footprints lyrics

Second, and something as far as way from a children's book as possible were the lyrics to the song Footprints by Squeeze which end:

The summer is over I can count the cost
Footprints on the beaches are now footprints in the frost
People with umbrellas disappear in the fog
Footprints on the beaches are now footprints in the frost

Both of which are a propos of nothing and are certainly a distraction from the real story--the role of umbrellas and umbrella making in doing good in this world.

The Queen's Brollies: Transparent Fashion Trending

When we last wrote about Queen Elizabeth II and the royally endoresed Fulton Umbrellas, we did not know all there was to know about the Queen and her umbrellas. Thus, a hearty thank you to the Daily Mail for catching us up:

When the Queen was caught in the rain outside St Paul’s Cathedral this week, she flourished a transparent umbrella with a deep red trim which matched her outfit. Coincidence? Hardly. She has a delightful and little-known indulgence: she commissions see-through umbrellas - so the public can see her - that are colour-matched with her clothes.

While the article is full of pictures showing these transparent umbrellas, with trims that match her clothing, let us just link you to the image most royal:

To quote again the Daily Mail: "They are made by Fulton in London’s East End. ‘We get the colours pretty spot on,’ says Nigel Fulton." The Daily Mail is quite the place for catching up with the Queen and umbrellas. For a wonderful display from 2011, check out Louise Boyle's article on "One's getting a soaking! The Queen carries a brolly as Buckingham Palace garden party is hit by downpour." But royals and umbrellas are nothing new it seems:

Travel Destinations: Umbrella Shops: London

After your visit to Paris,, it is short channel hop to London, where you will want to go to Oxford Street to see James Smith and Sons. As touted in the the Daily Telegraph: the umbrella shop "has remained largely unchanged since it moved to the location in 1857 (the shop was originally located in Foubert Place, off Regent Street, where it opened in 1830)." They sell "every conceivable type of men's and women’s umbrellas and parasols, as well as made-to-measure walking sticks (fitted while you wait)."

The Guardian has also listed Smith's as one of the 10 best shops in West London.

For the umbrella tourist, one blogger has chosen an umbrella theme London Walk that takes one to Smith's (or as the blogger would have it: the Umbrella Shop in Hazelwood House, before heading off to the "balcony of THE NATIONAL GALLERY on TRAFALGAR SQUARE when it starts to drizzle" to see thousands of umbrellas open up.

In addition, our London traveler can also visit "Brigg" (properly Swaine Adeney Brigg on St. James Street, but it doesn't focus exclusively on umbrellas. And at least one blogger, after going by Smith's to go to Brigg, then ended  dashing back to Smith's before closing to get what he really wanted!

Taking James Smith and Sons beyond their mark as a tourist destination, the publishers of Cane News [aside: does the Brolly Blog really cover canes? I think not!] have written about the craftsmanship evident at Smith's, but also about the "beauty inside"--particularly pointing to the "the corkscrew cane, the cane containing four dice, a pipe, two silver plated cups and a glass flask with Maplewood stick--or, the special Toulouse-Lautrec version with two glasses, glass flask and a stick made from laminated tropical hardwoods."

However, if you are an Avengers fan, then the most important thing to know about Smith's is that John Steed's "swordstick featured in the title sequence was made by venerable English umbrella maker James Smith & Sons."

Book Cover: Spring (by David Szalay) [US Divergence]

A new book cover today prompts suggestion that Americans like umbrellas more than the British, at least in the minds of publishers. The book in question is Spring: A Novel   by David Szalay. This book was first published in (no accident) Spring 2011 in the United Kingdom to fairly good reviews--"95 per cent excellence" according  The Independent. Exploring discussion of the book, it is clear that it does, indeed, take place in Spring and the Spring in England is rainy, clearly justifying tying the red umbrella to the cover. However, the original British hardcover had no image on it all, but was full of print, clearly appealing to a different sensibility:  

                                     

The British paperback edition goes away from this enticing text to a vague image, but no umbrella.

What can we make of this? Umbrella lovers appreciate the recognition of the power of the brolly, but does it really sell better in the United States? And how do we figure this out?

Before we leave the topic for today, I also report that Szalay does refer to umbrellas in his text--on at least four different pages if you accept the Amazon search tool. For the romantic entanglements involved in this novel, it is nice that the first reference (on page 66) appears to capture some of his themes:

Outside he puts up the umbrella. They have to squeeze together to get under it. They have not been in such proximity all evening and he smells the faded sense of her perfume - so familiar a smell, lingering in woollens - that she put on in the morning when she went to work. It is only a short walk to her flat. They have made this ingress together many times. They know what to do. He shakes off the umbrella and takes off his shoes.

The rest, I leave to your imagination!

Umbrella Crime Wave Continues: Washington Post Knows Nothing!

The Washington Post reports on a new instance of umbrella-carrying malefactors: This time in Potomac, Maryland, outside of Washington, DC, according to this poetic news account:

The rain falls, according to the Bible, “on the just and on the unjust, ” and a man who robbed a bank in Montgomery County on Friday may have taken that idea into account. 

The M&T Bank in Potomac was held up about 9:40 a.m. by a robber who seemed specially prepared for the wet weather conditions prevailing in the Washington area at that time. 

He had a handgun, Montgomery County police said. But he also carried, according to the description released by the police, an item not normally included in descriptions of robbers. During the robbery, police said in a statement, he “carried an umbrella.”

Unfortunately, the Washington Post is not familiar with the Brolly Blog and its crime reports involving umbrellas, not to speak of the use of umbrellas as weapons. For, as faithful readers would know, this is far from the first, and we do not purport to be complete in our recording. Nevertheless, the Post tells ITS readers that "But over the weeks and months, few descriptions of robbers have included umbrellas."

More important to our readership, the Post does note that "The account did not say whether anyone saw the umbrella unfurled." Thus, we can be assured that this criminal, at any rate, did not use the umbrella itself for nefarious purposes, but was preserving it for its primary purpose--protection from the rain!

[Aside: In another report on the same crime, the headline writer says that the robber "wielded" the umbrella, but the text gives no support, merely stating that he had a black umbrella with him.]

Umbrella Video Goes Viral and Brolly Blog Had to Read It in the Newspaper

Finally, umbrellas make it into the gossip columns! After sneaking into movies, songs, literature, and luring the consumer dollar, umbrellas are in the big time--a viral video! According to a story "Fox host's umbrella factor" from The Reliable Source in the Washington Post on December 9, 2011, "On Wednesday night, Bill O’Reilly shoved a camera-wielding man with his umbrella while on his way to a White House holiday party." More importantly, this was caught on film and "Within hours, it was all on YouTube, fodder for his critics across the Web."



So, we have had stories about using umbrellas as weapons, but now we have it captured and reported:

“Leave me alone right now,” warned O’Reilly. [Brendan] Lane [a paid organizer for Wisconsin Jobs Now] asked, “Mr. O’Reilly, were you at Gingrich’s fundraiser?” He wasn’t, it turns out — but that’s when O’Reilly knocked Lane into the street with his umbrella and taunted, “Hey, sorry about that.”

Amusingly, while I don't believe 60,000 some hits is really "going viral" it is better than Brolly Blog ever does! Also, we read that O'Reilly did have to reach into the fictional character umbrella-holding bag afterwards on his show:

But on Thursday night's “The O'Reilly Factor,” he said that he felt threatened by Lane and wanted to call the police because “I thought the guy was out of control.” O’Reilly said he “felt like the Penguin in the ‘Batman’ show . . . shielding myself with an umbrella. And I'm lucky I had it — otherwise I would have punched the guy, and I would have been arrested.”

WOW BATMAN! POW!

[Aside: For those who followed the Washington Post link above, they might have noticed that the headline is the much more boring "Bill O’Reilly: Latest target of video activism." This is the result of search optimization dumbing down our language, so where amusing (or not) puns can still live in print, they die on the Internet!]

Travel Destinations: Umbrella Shops: Paris

Today the New York Times ran a slide show online about Paris, which included "Alexandra Sojfer at her umbrella shop". Given that there were only 20 slides, this certainly raises the stature of umbrellas in the travel industry! Of course, that allowed me to explore a bit and find that this is not just a woman and an umbrella shop, but a renowned umbrella shop with a long history.

As recounted in WishYouWereHere.com: Alexandra Sojfer's "grandfather Georges Gaspard fled Hungary for Paris in 1937 and began handcrafting umbrellas in his atelier.

"He quickly became the go-to parasol outfitter among fashionable parisiennes, and today, Sojfer creates exquisitely detailed brolleys and shaders in the styles he popularized. She hand-crafts every piece in the atelier behind this 1834 storefront on the boulevard Saint-Germain, where she's joined forces with umbrella purveyor Madeleine Gely next door."

I would tell you that, if you cannot travel to Paris, to visit Alexander Sojfer online instead--but, her craftmanship does not extend to the web, at least as of yet, as her site is "under construction"!

Note: While her shop makes it to one of 20 slides in the Times travel section, The Lonely Planet ranks her shop as #1011 of 1469 things to do in Paris and #166 of 616 shopping in France. But should we make it #1 for umbrella folks?

Umbrellas and Crime: Hide the Bank Robber and Collect the Money

It has been over two years since we last reported the use of an umbrella in a bank robbery, but it has happened again! According to the San Francisco Examiner:

On a clear and sunny Saturday, a careful crook walked into a bank in North Beach toting an open umbrella and walked out with handfuls of cash, police said.

The crook used the open umbrella to conceal himself from surveillance cameras during the heist at the Bank of the West on Columbus Avenue just after 9 a.m.

And if using the umbrella for concealment was not enough, this robber had the audacity to involve the innocent umbrella in the crime itself: "The tellers handed over cash, which the suspect collected in the open umbrella before fleeing, police said."

Umbrellas and Crime:

Book Cover: Started Early, Took My Dog: A Novel

Returning to my theme of umbrellas on book covers, I have hit a snag on this one. "Started Early, Took My Dog: A Novel" by Kate Atkinson. In this instance, the book cover showed up in a Barnes & Noble book review. However, there is nothing in the review to tell me about the place of the umbrella or even rain at all. Of course, it is always a dark and stormy night in detective fiction right? So, is that all there is? Thanks to Google Books and other sites, I can peek inside the novel and learn that one of the main characters in this story (NOT the private eye) does have an umbrella:

She bought a tweed Maxi code from Etam and a new umbrella. Ready for anything. Or as ready as she would ever be. Two years later she was in the police. Nothing could have prepared her for that. Bye Bye, Baby.

Not much, but something. I had hopes reading one reader who picked up the book because, among other things, she has "a thing for umbrellas," and a commentator on another review loves "the umbrella on the cover. Could use one like that with all the rain we’re having." but no other hints appear.

The umbrella must be a powerful one, however, since unlike other books, the umbrella surfaces on the paperback edition also. However, a very different umbrella, not the loud black and yellow that yells out at us, but a much more subdued, more detective-novelly one, but not the black that would accompany an male detective, but a rainy green. [Side note: The British editions have no umbrella, so maybe this is an American thing?] So, please tell me: Do I have to read the book to find out about the umbrella's strength of image?!

The Parasol is the Umbrella's Daughter

I did not know of this poem by Emily Dickinson. While it obviously deserves to be highlighted on The Brolly Blog, what really fascinates me is how just a quick Internet search shows it to be an inspiration for all sorts of things. But first, this short poem, in its entirety:

The parasol is the umbrella's daughter

The parasol is the umbrella's daughter,
And associates with a fan
While her father abuts the tempest
And abridges the rain.

The former assists a siren
In her serene display;
But her father is borne and honored,
And borrowed to this daFy.

According to James Guthrie: "Emily Dickinson's poem "The parasol is the umbrellas's daughter" is light and almost trivial at the first reading. However, it presents her sharp wit and writing signature. It gives the reader a glimpse of the relationship between the poet's father, Edward Dickinson, and his daughters, Emily and Lavinia, said to be an accomplished flirt. Descriptions of Edward Dickinson present a portrait that resembles an umbrella, austere and dignified, civic minded thus utilitarian and a subtle tyrant." Well, here is a portrait... does he look like an umbrella? Does anyone look like an umbrella?

In random order, first a quilt of this title done by Michele M. Bilyeu for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. Her take on the poem: ""As I made this art quilt, I thought of my father, who faced and bore the burden of my mother's Alzheimer's with great honor, strength, and courage. I can only hope to borrow and carry those traits now as I continue to care for my mother, and honor my father, by caring for him, as well." and on umbrellas: "For all those whose strength and courage are tested with this challenging disease, and in honor of all of those who both carry, and lend their umbrellas."

Second, a fashion statement by Emily Schmemily on Polyvore. Her umbrella: Blue Paper Parasol with Bamboo Handle -- MNInternational

Look Ma! No Hands! And my Umbrella is Staying Up

Than you Daily Mail for today's invention. From a cabbie, no less: "Cabbie Ibra Ahmed hopes his hands-free umbrella will be ideal for ladies who struggle carrying their brolly and other items." Now, why this should only be for women, I don't know. Seems to me that men might want to text while walking in the rain, too. So after Mr. Ahmed makes his initial fortune with "Hands Free Brolly Bag" maybe he will turn his attention to the other half of the population and create a brolly with a man bag.

Of course, there is competition out there. So wish Mr. Ahmed luck against The Hands Free Brolly Company, Ltd. (for those who push prams or wheelchairs) and, of course, the often featured Nubrella.

Book Covers: Cutting for Stone

Another book, another apparent fiction best seller, another book I had not heard of. This time we have an umbrella on the cover of the U.S. 2010 Vintage paperback edition of Abraham Verghese's "Cutting for Stone." [There is no such image on the original hardback or paperback covers.] So, let's go fishing.

No clues on Amazon--a lot about doctors and twining medicine into fiction but nothing about umbrellas. Not looking for rain either, since the umbrella holder appears to be in a sunny meadow. So on to Google. First hit is Google books with an excerpt with the word umbrella in it; from page 295:

One morning, as I went down to the gate, umbrella in hand, I saw a woman coming up the hill to Missing, rivulets of water pouring off her umbrella.

That's nice, but has nothing to do with the cover image. Second hit not good at all: A reading guide which tells us that an early part of the story takes place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which, among other things, retains "Campari umbrellas" left behind by the Italians. Well, I do like Campari and bitter lemon, but that isn't a Campari umbrella.

Not doing any better with remaining hits. Do hit a gold mine--for book covers, but not this book--on the second page of hits with a link to a Goodreads Listopia on Umbrellas: 78 book covers with umbrellas on; I can go two months plus now without doing any searching on my own!

Well, further refining of searches is getting me nowhere. I get other references about the story: family saga, three continents, doctors, Siamese Twins, but no umbrellas. So, tell me, Internet, who is on the cover and why the umbrella?

Book Covers: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

Okay ... a long absence, I start a new theme. Book covers with umbrellas on them. Today's random selection is the U.S. edition of "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" by Jamie Ford. So, I know nothing about this novel, see that it is selling well and need to know why there are two people holding umbrellas on the cover.

First, the word "umbrella" does not show on Amazon's listing for the book. It shows Publisher's Weekly saying that Ford's "strained debut concerns Henry Lee, a Chinese-American in Seattle who, in 1986, has just lost his wife to cancer," and Seattle is notoriously rainy, so maybe that is it? Wild guess, but the word "rain" also doesn't show up in any of the first page of reader reviews either.

Second, on to Google. Well, I find that searching for the book and umbrella is mightily productive. The very first hit (and will this entry now beat that?) is for someone else's discovery of the number of book covers she has with umbrellas on them (hint--source for my next pick?). Anwyay, the Infinite Shelf finds that on this cover "the tones are beautiful, sweet and melancholic," but still no answer to why umbrellas.

Second Google hit does better. This time a review of the book by Andrea Ruiz in which she tells us that Lee is wandering by a hotel where the current owners, "who want to restore the building, find the belongings of Japanese-Americans who were sent to the internment camp. Each artifact is brought outside and shown to the public, and Henry sees an umbrella with a koi painted on it. This brings a rush of emotion and he is overwhelmed with memories of his past." Well, this is good, an umbrella as a key to memory, a la Proust's madeleine ("involuntary memory" according to Wikipedia).

So, not bad. Don't get anything out of any subsequent hits except for this exact excerpt:

The new hotel owner, a slender Caucasian woman, slightly younger than Henry, walked up the steps holding . . . an umbrella? She popped it open, and Henry’s heart beat a little faster as he saw it for what it was. A Japanese parasol, made from bamboo, bright red and white—with orange koi painted on it, carp that looked like giant goldfish. It shed a film of dust that floated, suspended momentarily in the air as the hotel owner twirled the fragile-looking artifact for the cameras.

So, I am better off, but still don't know why there are two people holding umbrellas on the cover!

Addendum (1/25/2012): I picked up a copy of the book at a sale table at my local library, and the reviewer was indeed correct--the umbrella (parasol) is a memory key for the protagonist (Henry). There is also at least one other umbrella, his own, a necessary accessory in rainy Seattle, where the story takes place.

We Got Your Back: Wet Umbrella Protectors

This may have been around for a while ... and they are not cheap (that is, commerical use only), but hey, we are protecting our umbrellas; not leaving them around wet and then forgetting them later. Now, when you look at the comments at The DailyWH, you see folks objecting, since water dries up, etc., but these folks just don't understand, it is not that we don't want our umbrellas to stay wet, but that we want to keep our umbrellas with us. So, way to go Kasapon.