In Maine, and near Bates College, and we had a little time on our hands. So let's go check out the exhibit at their Museum of Art! It was called Common Grounds. From their website:
" ... some of the most engaging and relevant artwork being made in or about America today relates to places that often exist outside of exclusive urban art centers. This art ties us to others and to the land around us."
Like any modern art show, there will be things I like and get, things I like and don't get, things I kinda like, things I sorta get, and things I get and aren't my thing. I'm not here to knock anyone's efforts, you might like it and it might speak to you, and that is fantastic.
Here are a few things I liked!
This piece is by Jacob Mitchell.
It has a title, but I am struggling to figure out which title is associated with this piece. His website isn't helping. I'll come back to this maybe. The title is not as important as to what I liked. It makes the Waffle House feel bigger and more important that what it is. The description mentions it has a religious feel to that, and I agree with that sentiment. It is grand. It demands attention. It is a Waffle House.
Yowshien Kuo
An Untamed yet Ancestral Howling
2024
Take something that is meant to as American as American pie. Now show the people in the painting to be something other than a bunch of white dudes. Something feels off, though it shouldn't feel that way. And that is something they can't teach you in Art School. The can try, but you can either think that way, or you can't. You can be subtle or your message can be like a hammer to, some part of your body. You choose.
Suchitra Mattai
Wedded Bliss
2019
I love everything about this except how the backstory involves colonization. The pattern brings me joy, the people's necks and the collars make me think they are coming out of that background. Such a great piece.
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