The first thing I saw as I walked through the thick double doors of the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center was an extravagant bouquet of roses some 12 feet long, artfully arranged on the marble steps of the central dais. At least I thought I saw roses. Upon closer inspection, the “roses” turned out to be industrial-style yellow rubber gloves lined with various shades of red velvet—maroon, burgundy, fuchsia.
Titled “Assume the Position,” this work by Alicia Renadette challenges the parameters of femininity and masculinity through objects—velvet and rubber gloves—typically associated with gender.
“In my work,” writes Renadette in her artist statement, “surface ideals of feminine desirability butt up against unsexy realities such as gender-assigned labor, sociological expectations, psychic vulnerability and physical mortality (decay).”
“Assume the Position,” however, was not the work entered by Renadette for the jurying process of this exhibit. That one, a large, intricate construction of a vagina, “was a bit to risqu?,” according to museum director Danny Lichtenfeld.
“We couldn’t display it in our family-friendly museum,” said Lichtenfeld, as he and Education Curator Susan Calabria gave a walking tour of the museum last week.
Renadette is one of 13 artists chosen to take part in this summer show, In the Zone II. Juror and guest curator Denise Markonish (who’s also a new curator at MASS MoCA) pored over some 300 submissions from artists within a 100-mile radius of Brattleboro, choosing a collection of works that represent numerous media—sculpture, installation, painting—that she feels are bound together by a cohesive theme.
“I saw a variety of themes, from landscape and nature to abstraction and whimsy,” writes Markonish in her juror statement. “One idea, however, revealed itself to be continually strong and fresh: that of the body and the figure. The 13 artists in this exhibition make clear that there are almost as many ways to address the topic of the body as there were submissions to In the Zone II.”
Walking around the museum, however, I found it hard to see the link between many of the works. This sentiment was shared by Lichtenfeld.
“Yeah, the theme is kind of a stretch,” said Lichtenfeld. “But it’s important to remember [when judging artwork], there’s always an element of subjectivity.”
Both Lichtenfeld and Calabria say that, while not exactly a theme, the issue of OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) is brought to light in many works included in this exhibit, such as Renadette’s cloak of hair, made entirely of hair collected from her living space, and Jen Simms’ meticulously crafted abstract installations, characterized by an excessive number of push pins stuck into the wall.
“I think this kind of artwork is uncovering a big instance of OCD in our culture,” said Lichtenfeld.
“I agree,” said Calabria. “It’s got the ‘I put it where I feel like putting it’ feel. It’s really very freeing.”
Regardless of whether the “body” theme encompasses all the work, there are more than a few standouts among the up-and-coming and seasoned artists of In the Zone II.
Julia Morgan-Leamon’s installation “Looking for Betty” draws viewers in with its audiovisual component of early 20th-century women preening before a mirror while fighter planes zoom through a war-torn sky behind them. But when museumgoers can tear their eyes from the video long enough to take in the rest of the mock kitchen that comprises the installation, many details spring into view, such as the pineapple-shaped objects (including an ashtray and furniture elements) which evoke images of hand grenades.
Other standouts include Heidi Mario’s polymer and mixed-media sculptures of saints and martyrs. One lifelike figure (Saint Sebastian) has an arrow through his heart; another is missing the lower half of his body, which is sliced clean off.
Harriet Caldwell uses her artwork to look at what happens to the aging brain. Applying brain scans and Rorschach ink blots to beeswax and vellum squares, Caldwell attempts to reflect how the brain’s mechanisms change with age in “Brain Journaling.”
“I’m exploring the issues pertaining to aging,” writes Caldwell in her artist statement. “[‘Brain Journaling’] illustrates conceptions of brain disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease, associated with aging and mental acuity.”
Other works included in the exhibit are abstract sculptures by Ahren Ahrenholtz, wall drawings by David Teng Olsen, flesh-toned quilts by Wylie Sofia Garcia, reconstructed furniture by Angelo Arnold, fur-coat flotation devices by Lynn Richardson, paintings by David Kearn, photographs by Jim Turbert and images by Tamara Kartheiser.
Also on display at the museum through Aug. 3 is “Inside-Outside,” a multimedia installation by filmmaker Walter Ungerer and photographer Dianna Rust. With projected photographs and video on alternating tan burlap and white gauze panels punctuated by recorded sounds, Rust and Ungerer attempt to capture a day in the life of their rustic Maine home.
Through Aug. 3, Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, 10 Vernon St., Brattleboro, (802) 257-0124, www.brattleboromuseum.org.