Paula Scher

Paper Summary:

Post-Modernism claims that representations are representations of representations and so on ad infinitum and that words have a non-symbolic status. This paper attempts to show how this linguistic aspect of Post-Modernism is crucial to Paula Scher's works--particularly her paintings of maps, currently on display in an exhibition titled "The Maps" in New York's Maya Stendhal Gallery. It examines how her maps feature loose geographical shapes literally filled with labels and partitioned along political boundaries by color and line.

From the Paper:

"The labels on the maps reinforce the question of what the world is. Scher's maps are literally full of place-names, including the usual country and state/province names, as well as the names of cities, islands, rivers, and so on. Even the Bermuda Triangle is afforded a label in "World." When "World" is considered in conjunction with more localized maps, from "Africa" to "Manhattan," it becomes apparent that the world has been partitioned off into nameable sections like countries, and then further partitioned down to, as in "Manhattan," individual street names. One gets the sense that this theme could be continued on an even more localized basis; perhaps labels could be shown for each room in a building, or each object in a room."

More papers on Paula Scher:

• Analytical Essay # 34689 : " "Paula"
• Book Review # 104125 : "Themes in the Works of Susan Wyle and Paula Rothenberg"
• Research Paper # 102784 : "Memorandum of Law Re: Paula Tall"

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