hello again. it's me, michelle. the last month has been pretty busy. i've received lots of encouraging feedback from the
fem-in-us show. i attended a show at the garrett museum of art this friday (
figured. out) and a gal i went to school with said she heard some good things from a write-up. the show is coming down this week, and this was the first i had heard of it, therefore i searched. below is the complete article from the
fort wayne reader.
Feminine wiles
The Fem-In-Us show at Artlink
Fort Wayne Reader
2011-08-21
For nearly a decade, Motherlode Group, a curatorial collective
based in Fort Wayne, has been producing some of the most exciting
regional survey exhibitions, based around a sometimes ambiguously
gendered template. Originally constructed to promote the work of women
in the local arts scene, Motherlode has expanded its view to one of a
more open-ended, inclusive aesthetic that deals with the artists
reaction to, exploration of, or obsession with some aspect of
femininity. This art is produced by any gender and the general feeling
to their exhibitions has some aspect of humor with the addition of
phrases like "You don't need an ovary to participate when X and Y
co-habitate.”
In the most recent exploration of femininity through art, Motherlode
Group brings us "Fem-In-Us", an abbreviated form of "Feminine in all of
us", which takes the form of a large invitational group exhibition
containing some of Fort Wayne's old guard, emerging, and new-comer
artists. This exciting, cross-disciplinary, inquisitive body of art is a
wonderful exhibition of how third wave feminism intersects with art
theory to create a product greater than the sum of its parts.
"Fem-In-Us" gently reminds the viewer of issues facing women, and
educates them about the ever-changing identity of the feminine, while
making all of this accessible and humorous.
"Fem-In-Us" includes beautiful pieces of art from artists like Daniel
Dienelt, some of which aren't necessarily reminiscent of his signature
style; a portrait of a vestal woman by Katie M. Moore; and humorous,
almost cartoonish images by Justin Henry Miller. While "Fem-In-Us" is
full of other excellent artists like Suzanne Galazka, John Gruse, Justin
Johnson, Amanda Joseph, Mary Klopfer, and Dominick Manco, there were a
few artists whose work was able to make a strong presence both visually
and conceptually within the broad context of the exhibition. Artists
like Sommer Starks, Jeremy McFarren and Erin Patton, Amy Reff, Michelle
Diller offer works which reach deep into art history and visually hold
their own in this exceptionally strong exhibition.
Sommer Starks was given another rare chance to let her installation work
shine with three pieces, each distinct, but carrying Starks' signature
brand of unnervingly combining material and concept to produce a
somewhat creeping feeling which stays with the viewer after they explore
the pieces. "The Mother Load" greets the viewer as they enter the
gallery, in the form of multiple mixed mixed cerebral structures hanging
from the ceiling, inhabiting some sort of space in between birth, life,
and death. "Molter No. 3-10" an installation of multiple smaller
pieces, mixes high minimalistic gridded sculptural forms with
post-minimal process based organic structures in the form of webs of
human hair, lint balls, and scraps of string. "Hair Story" a combination
of both human and synthetic hair, is a wonderful installation that is
visually read in a similar manner to a written text, likely the title's
reference, or another visual language like sheet music. These "verbal"
and "linguistic" chunks of weave reference a distinctly feminine
narrative, but the abstracted nature allows the viewer to question more
than answer the piece.
Michelle Diller's three photographic pieces, "The Heel Pop," "The
Educated Stance," and "The Leisurely Stroll" are all headless feminine
forms focusing on the posture and clothing of these unidentified women.
While each image produces a somewhat stereotypical female concept
through the wearing of dresses and in-general “girlie” clothing, and
proper and demure physicality, they also represent more modern ideas of a
woman's role. The blatant but quiet inclusion of the female figures
being very conscious of their body and ability to flirt, the importance
of education, and lack of domestic constraints all represent a
contemporary identity. Diller's powerful restraint allows her work to
invite the viewer in and then imprint them.
Amy Reff's "Skanky Hankys" entitled "Floozy," "Bitch," and "Skank" are
exactly what they sound like. These word-based embroidered art pieces
are formally incredibly beautiful, including the appropriated
handkerchief patterns with the directly placed words and all of the
baggage they represent for woman-kind. This re-appropriation of words
in combination with appropriation of physical objects is incredibly
clever, and adds an almost Duchampian "assisted ready made" aspect to
the work.
Finally, Jeremy McFarren and Erin Patton's installation "Glimpse," a
composition of seven sewing circle frames which at first seem somewhat
common. Upon further inspection, this husband and wife artist
collaboration brings pieces that become interesting abstractions both
two and three dimensional. The lacy fabric stretched across the frames
partially covers abstracted drawings which lay on the other side of the
frame, creating a hollow space with graphic picture planes on either
side. The viewer is then challenged to see the art inside the objects,
interacting with the pieces as conduits to see the art. The total piece
is read as an object which both obscures and draws out the total image,
itself a producer of third piece within the artwork, being the
relationship of the viewer to the sculptural object.
"Fem-In-Us" effortlessly creates one of the most interesting and
conceptually diverse exhibitions of 2011, finding ways to bring about
both feminine and universal ideas to the viewer. This stimulating
experience continues throughout the whole exhibition and shows just how
strong our arts community can be.
*Special Note:This will be Artlink's final exhibition in the Hall
Community Center after nearly two decades in this space. In October,
Artlink will be moved to the Auer Center for Arts and Culture.
in addition to the show, i took a quick trip to chi-town with jacques last month. we visited the museum of science and industry...were able to see
body worlds...which was amazing! as well as
suited for space, which was pretty sweet as well. the planetarium, the sears (now willis) tower and giordano's pizza completed our trip.
later, ohio welcomed us. we visited my favorite farm. mostly it's my favorite because it belongs to my aunt and uncle and i get to see them, my cousins and my favorite friend amanda. and eat well (3 squares plus delicious snacks) all the while. lots of fun.
jacques turned 25 this month...so i welcomed the old man into the 25 and over group with a birthday shin-dig complete with both of our families. he doesn't like people to make a big deal over him...so he wasn't pleased i was throwing him a party, but he showed up and enjoyed himself nonetheless :)
let me just tell you that i love september. it's one of my favorite months of the year: autumn officially begins, the air turns crisp, i can wear scarves again (without people making fun of me so much), wearing sweatshirts and sitting around bonfires becomes a frequent weekend occurrence. and i have eight or so best friends/loved ones who have birthdays. seriously...jacques, amanda, cheryl, kate, andrea, grandma barnes, my sister jacque, cris...it's birthday mayhem trying to find specific gifts for all of them, while not exceeding a small budget. but it's lots of fun.
so, anyway, september is almost gone, and i'm back to blogging. things to look forward to...a post on the books i'm reading/have read lately, some photos of baby asa, maybe a few chicago pictures...who knows!
thanks for reading!
michelle
