Others’ Perceptions
Ever since I created a “raving diva post” category, I’ve been opting to use it to vent perhaps more than I should. So what? The luxury of unpaid summer vacation includes allowing myself to get riled up over minutiae. I have this memory from when I was about ten years old, of going with my family to visit some of their friends. These friends had kids about my age, and I remember one sporting a t-shirt that read: “If Assholes Could Fly, This Place would be an Airport.” I’m thinking of making a spin-off of that, replacing “assholes” with something more benign like “idiots” or “fools.”
I bring this up because I think that with some people, the obvious could dance on their face, and they’d still be asking how come they didn’t know about something. Or, they maintain some bizarre stance they took randomly in the 80s, and are afraid to give up on it just yet. In a recent letter to the editor in the Hartford Advocate, the writer suggests of the Wadsworth: “Maybe they’d get more visitors if they just called it the Wadsworth Museum instead! […] They’re the oldest art museum in America? Bully for them! Maybe if people knew that’s what they are they could work on becoming the best art museum in America!” If you pass by the building, you can see the banners advertising current exhibits. If you read art & entertainment listings in the half-billion a&e listing publications in Connecticut, you can find the museum listed right under that art/museum/gallery section with a description that makes it pretty clear of what it is. The naming issue seems silly to me. How many places are named in the most accurate way? Certainly not most. I mean, looking at just the names, could you figure out what these places were if they didn’t have a reputation– The Gap, Banana Republic, Versace, or Anthropologie?
Moving on. In this week’s Hartford Advocate, there is yet another brilliant letter. This one speculates: “Attendance is down probably for two reasons. We need more and better reasons to go! [I’m guessing this person doesn’t like art for art’s sake] And we need to know about them. Where is the promotion? Wouldn’t billboards with great art, new, old, whatever, keep reminding us of the exhibit, not to mention improve the landscape?” I agree on the last part, yet feel like no matter how much we pander to a passive culture, there will still be people who don’t know about these things. Again, glancing at the lifestyle section of the newspaper or in the entertainment listings updates you on new exhibits and happenings. Even the Hartford Advocate, which the writer must read at least occasionally, lists the Wadsworth under “galleries” with “Museum of Art” attached to the “Wadsworth Atheneum.”
The Wadsworth was part of the reason I moved to Hartford to begin with. I like being in walking distance of the place, which is in a prime location…very visible. Which leads me to another part of this person’s letter to the editor: “Why not give free, one-year memberships to all current and new downtown residents (including the Colt area)?” AAACCCK! First, the “Colt area” isn’t downtown. Secondly, this is such crap. The people who are living downtown, for the most part, are the one most able to afford Wadsworth memberships. This idea just continues with the downtown-supremacy crap that I’ve been hearing about non-stop with the renewal projects. How about free membership to ALL Hartford residents, or to those who are low-income and less likely to be going to an art museum due to lack of funds anyway? And third, many of Hartford’s major employers are also corporate members, meaning their employees get free entrance to the museum. That’s how I get in all the time.
These letters were both in response to an article that the Hartford Advocate did on whether or not the Wadsworth was irrelevant.
My Perceptions
The question of irrelevancy and emptiness seemed as quite the contrast to what I saw when visiting the museum today. This was without a doubt the most enjoyable trip I’ve made to the Wadsworth, and I’ve been there more times than I’d care to admit. It was alive! There was more sculpture and contemporary work than usual, and I noticed that much of the Wadsworth’s permanent collection items were arranged in more interesting ways than in the past. The grouping of three items allegedly carved from the Charter Oak tree seemed more relevant than when each was displayed separately. A handwritten letter by Abe Lincoln was powerful when surrounded by other art works that seem out of touch by our standards today. To some extent, there will always be rooms in museums that display portraits of the wealthy and royal–something that is not my taste, but can be ignored if everything else is jumping off the walls. I have noticed that in recent years, the museum (atheneum, if you will) has been moving in the right direction–away from the dull standards (artifacts and portraits) and toward the powerful, or at least, experimental.
I came out to see the Connecticut Contemporary exhibit, and will get to that in a minute, but I need to say more about how my wandering through the museum was rewarded. After lunch in the cafe that has just switched directorship (or caterers, or what have you), I hauled my full belly through the “Faith and Fortune: Five Centuries of European Masterworks” exhibit featuring Caravaggio and Fra Angelico. Again, it’s all about juxtaposition. The theme brought out the lusciousness of art works that, set in a religious-themed grouping, wouldn’t seem as interesting. One room of this seemed as if it were created just for me– the “Art and Curiosity Cabinet” room. Just think about an arrangement of sea shells, coral, and Christ.
Speaking of organic matter, outside of this exhibit there was a room that had random collections of things–a large chest filled with old sparkplugs, bricks, and broken bottles; a cabinet with hundreds of miniature pots/vases; a piece by Charles LeDray called “Untitled/Tower” from 2001 which was a tower of dollhouse-sized chairs, desks, and other furniture…carved out of human bone.
Even the “Picasso to Pop: Aspects of Modern Art” exhibit drew me in. The usual suspects were represented, which at a glance, made me almost pass it by. Some genius decided to display the lesser-known works (in addition to the tried-and-true ones) of Dali and Lichtenstein, including sculptures.
So, the reason I bothered to go through the trouble of visiting such an *inaccessible and unadvertised* art museum was the “Connecticut Contemporary” exhibit. I won’t lie, contemporary art is where my heart is. And so, as expected, some of it sucked, looked like something I could literally do, and, some of it was amazing.
First, another bone to pick. Sol Lewitt (god rest his soul) was one of the artists selected by the Wadsworth Atheneum. I don’t get his art. If you know the name but can’t think of what his art is, think random white cubes. I knew someone who did intern work with Lewitt’s archives, who absolutely loved it. Well, on display was a series of pieces aptly named “Scribbles.” C’mon, it’s like he wasn’t even trying! Lewitt and a few other unnamed artists aside, the exhibit was fresh.
Oh, and even though it might have been more accurate if called the New Haven Contemporary Exhibit, seeing as how of the 24 artists represented, 12 live in New Haven. I’ve been thinking of what the possible reasons are for this, and keep coming up empty. I mean, we have an art school in Hartford (or West Hartford, or Bloomfield, if you’re seeking to be specific), and I know a dozen artists living downtown who can do more than scribble. There were just huge areas of the state not represented. And damn it, I’d like to see that situation addressed in the future!
I walked in to be greeted by Tavares Strachan’s taxidermied footless chicken. Oh, and it had replaced feet. And it was perched, angrily, on a suitcase. A former student of mine once told me about how in her home country, she’d travel to piano lessons on a long bus ride, and that on one occasion, she was seated next to a passenger who had his chicken on board. Not leaping off that bus at the first sign of the chicken shows huge dedication.
Rachel Berwick created enormous tortoise shells from glass, one of which was transparent. Johanna Bresnick got crazy with the strapping tape, creating the changed landscape of New Haven, by showing the NH Coliseum in different stages of demolition. Susan Classen-Sullivan created vaginesque sculptures, some of which visitors were invited to touch. These ceramic, stone, glass, brass, and iron filing pieces were suggestive, showing various body parts. Gil Scullion made a sculpture called “Vote with your Feet, Step One” by layering paper stencils portraying dancing shoes and dance instructions. Something like that would look nice on permanent display at a place like La Paloma.
Mark Williams had wallpaper, silkscreened prints, and photographs portraying army figurines partially covered in play-doh or with animal images. In his artist’s statement, this is explained: “His prints, photographs, and installation critique the absurdity of war and the ubiquity of its propagandist images and symbols.”
Peter Waite created a “Death Ship,” something that most people could have pulled off if they had such an idea, and lots of patience. This ship and its wake were created from old art supplies–slides, pencils, paints, etc. It was messy and very cool.
Several artists chose audio-visual forms to work in. Eva Lee created something that would either be considered brilliant, or just the inevitable outcome of someone who smokes too much pot & listens to too much ambient music. Not that I’m saying she does either of those things, but that’s what came to mind when viewing “Discrete Terrain: Windows on Five Emotions.” This was several flickering screens set to new age-y music. I thought I’d get in touch with my psyche, but that didn’t happen, sadly. Joseph Smolinski used high definition digital animation for his “Tree Turbine” piece, which as it sounds, shows trees as turbines. He also had some drawings on display that merged technology with nature. Pretty cool stuff. Would have liked it better if he risked a lawsuit and put a skateboarding Bart Simpson somewhere in the animation.
But what blew me away was garbage. Pawel Wojtasik filmed garbage at the Hartford landfill. Seriously. He had close-ups of bulldozers pushing nasty, decaying food and other garbage around. It made me feel guilty for having stopped composting last year. . . a guilt fully deserved. If the artist’s name sounds familiar, it may be because he was part of the POZA exhibit at Real Art Ways a few months back.
