Shayna Kiblin "Touch Me" hand tufted rugs, and plywood
The Artist Invites Patrons to interact with this piece
Rochester/Finger Lakes Show
The Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, New York
Even during a pandemic there comes a time when - if you are feeling well - you just have to go and see for yourself and find out what is going on in the art world. We have had our anchor down for so long, we need to allow ourselves a bit more space for our imagination to roam and ruminate. So, I invited my brother Paul to accompany me and go out to see The Memorial Art Gallery and tour the new show that has just opened celebrating the visual arts here in the Finger Lakes. This is the 67th Rochester/Finger Lakes juried show and it fills the central Docent Gallery in the museum now through October 17th, 2021.
Amanda Chestnut selected the artwork on view and I would say that this show strives to have something for everyone. Margot Muto writes an introduction to Amanda Chestnut: "As a curator and artist, Chestnut's work focuses on social justice issues around race and gender identity." Many of the 112 pieces in this show address contemporary topics and these subjects form the core of the show she has mounted at the MAG.
Zane Leo "Destructive Hope", a cut paper collage
I like to think that a show like this one at the MAG will help in making connections between news items and our own understanding of the times we presently live in. Maybe a piece of art will resonate with us and remain in our field of vision as a force for change or at least something to contemplate. Please....don't rush through this show! Give the art some time to sink in. Take a look at a work like "Destructive Hope" by Zane Leo. What is the significance of this ( painful ) image? The struggle of the human hand and the dying flowers becomes a symbol, but how does this relate to the title of the work?
"Forget Me Not" by Portas
at The Rochester/Finger Lakes show
Religious imagery can often instill hope, and in the little painting from Portas, we see beetles, and bees and flowers and fruit, and it could be viewed as a passage from the Bible. Then we can also reflect on the news that insect populations worldwide have been drastically reduced because of global environmental damage. The title "Forget Me Not" is not only the name of a flower but also a reminder to care for the nature from which we all spring and eventually return to.
Painting of Dandelions by Emily Glass
I am acutely aware of the connections one can make between people in our community, and having been a Professor in the College of Art & Design at R.I.T. for so many years, I am pleased that the present show includes some of my teaching colleagues and very happy to see some of our students who have been selected for this new exhibition. There is a realist work by Emily Glass who now teaches painting at R.I.T. and you can admire her ability to understand and render the effects of cool light on the dandelions in her still life ( above ).
"Burn The Binding" painting by Athesia Benjamin
Finger Lakes connections include strong portraits by artists I know like Athesia Benjamin and Unique Fair-Smith. You have to commend their way of capturing the human presence. These artists galvanize your attention and they are at a flexion point in their careers. Ms. Benjamin captures a look and feeling of this moment especially in light of the social movement we have witnessed here with Black Lives Matter. Attitudes can change and artists can help make that happen. We have to look seriously at our own behavior and work out ways to address inequality. This also goes for the art world which has to be ready to engage and move forward.
Painting by Unique Fair-smith at The Memorial Art Gallery
Certain works stand out for me in this show like the decorative rugs that announce "Touch Me" on the boxy sculpture by Shayna Kiblin that greets you at the entrance. "Touch Me" could have been the title for this show! Artists selected for this exhibition have stories to tell. One of the stories is about "Death in the Pressroom", a kind of installation that seems to sum up the situation for the printed newspaper in our country.
"Death in the Pressroom" 2021
at The 67th Rochester/Finger Lakes Exhibition
The physics of imagery really stands on its head in the dimensional work by Ryann Cooley. We begin to see the lens effect at work and it must have taken some real experimentation to find the perfect spot to mount the little glass sphere so that we can view the portrait of Rosa.
"Rosa" by Ryann Cooley
Dimensional artwork in glass, wood and digital pigment print
So my brother and I enjoyed the show and went down the hall to see some of the other features of the museum. We stopped to look at the large painting by Jerome Within, and also saw that there is a new mural installation going on in the hall on the way out. I wasn't familiar with the artist called Salut, and later found out this mural was by Bradd Young. The imagery has a bit of a children's book look to it and I was not sure that the art was in the final form, maybe it is still in development...
Painting by Jerome Within at The Memorial Art Gallery
New Mural by Bradd Young
Your community extends around you, and I was reminded of this by a painting I saw on the way out of the Finger Lakes show. My student Beverly Rafferty has a brisk landscape/seascape painting from La Jolla, California included in the show. Several years ago I was on the walkway around that beach just enjoying the stroll on a beautiful day, and I nod my head to Rochester's Albert Paley who passes by me. You never know who you will meet and greet halfway across the world, and I am thankful for my Finger Lakes Connections!
The Beach at La Jolla, California, by Beverly Rafferty
at The Memorial Art Gallery
Rochester, New York
