Big show. Saturday. Seventh floor. To some, it might sound like an invite to an obscure rave in a dilapidated warehouse on the Eastside. But to the art kid, those three points of reference lead to an excellent art exhibition and opening reception Saturday, Sept. 23 at 7 p.m., in the seventh floor gallery of the humanities building. Consider yourself now "in the know."
What's going down is a double show that will be up from Sept. 23 to Sept. 28 featuring a Masters of Fine Art exhibition with woodworks by B.A. Harrington and an exhibition of painted works by another MFA student, John Abbott.
Harrington's exhibition is titled "Dowry" for good reason. She is showing nearly a dozen large wooden dowry chests, which, to those of us who aren't living in a pre-20th century world, are chests young women kept to store precious and valuable possessions given to them by their families for safe keeping until they married. The more decadent and lavish the pieces, as historians and antique peddlers tell us, the wealthier and more prominent the girl. What does this mean to Harrington and to all of us for that matter? Today the common definition of "dowry" is "natural talent" as opposed to "nuptial," as in the early 18th century (thank you Oxford English Dictionary, from all ye English majors).
So here comes the conceptual framework behind her exhibit: With the rhetorical baggage of "dowry" spanning 100 years of cultural infusion, Harrington's exhibit explores the ideas of lineage and worth and pushes at its social and historical implications. The craftsmanship of these reclaimed, reinvented pieces of furniture utilizes relatively inexpensive materials such as salvaged plywood and pine house frames and intensely focuses attention on the woodworking process and functionality — not the ostentatious decadence of the once-essential material product. The artist also reinforces this with a special piece she constructed specially with her father, an already established carpenter whose profession further illuminates the relationship of "natural talent" or skill and the implications of "dowry" as a handed-down gift.
John Abbott has taken a similar approach in dealing with memory, process and the natural talent that surrounds his work in his exhibition titled "Fertile Ground." While many of the pieces were compiled from his studio work in Florence over the summer, Abbott also draws much of the material for his art from the fertility of his own childhood memories. Abbott's paintings contain a certain curious energy and vivacity, as well as a strict overall integrity. Thick, heavy layers seem to contain the unadorned sublimity of time itself, yet intense, colorful surprises reveal hidden recollections that beam coyly from within. His giant oil and tempera paintings stretch anywhere from 16 to 24 square feet, furthering the sense of how expansive and rich the human memory often can be. Abbott's works are also all very process-oriented, focusing on the material and the painter's dynamic reaction with it, reflecting how the mind interacts with certain memories and particular personal histories. His immersion with the paint in turn creates the physical aspects of the growing work and revitalizes the static arc of time and memory. Also included in his exhibit are highly expressionist drawings composed of a wide variety of materials such as gesso, oil and, taking "Fertile Ground" to the most literal of levels, dirt.
Together Harrington's and Abbott's exhibits form a wonderful dialog and a powerful showcase. So come, eat some cheese or other such classy, conversational snacks, experience the art and talk with these featured artists. Seeing is believing, folks.
