ART REVIEW
b v JENMFER SCHILTZ
THE ART SHOW OF ALL MOTHERS
Shrines, skulls, fruit of the womb, St, Bridget
on tho rjross, Mother Nature on a Catherine
wheel, African goddess and chief-cook-and-
bottle-washer—in the days of the Million-Mom
March and the Jonbenet Ramsey media circus,
it's interesting to note that artists still fre
quently ding to the archetypes and primitive
ideals of Motherhood, "The Mother Show" offers
a few exceptions in degrees of self-knowledge,
post-mod gnrl-ish interpretation, hip maternal
honesty and private pathos.
There's plenty of work by men here, and the
majority concerns itself with views of the womb.
Gene Clampitt's gorgeously formal and humorous
cubist goddess portraits are rich in color and
texture, with private parts that stand out in red
like the spot on the map that says "You Are
Here." Chris Hall's "I Give You the World" is
mai den/m Dther/crone at her most unabashed,
while "Embryo" by Don Carson is a coolly envi
ronmental fantasy of returning to the source.
"It's a Baby!" by Leon Herman is hilarious, with
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Amanda Jane Crouse
This all-inclusive invitational presents a
diverse array of approaches. From the poetic "I
Am Blind" by Alicia Cab an-Wheeler to Mary
Porter's "What Do You Do All Day?" we see
women juggling domesticity and childcare with
the commitment to self-expression, plus the
demons and desires that a woman retains despite
her ascent to life-giver. We're reminded by works
like Deonna Mann's
untitled shrine and
"Self-Portrait as My
Mother in 1979" by
Mira Gerard of the day
we come to terms with
the feet that our par
ents were/are human
beings. Those human
imperfections—incon
sistency, denial, fear—
leave a strange taste
in place of trust and
dependency. Some lose
their illusion of
parental perfection
sooner than others,
Mann takes on this unholy schism with a
story of addiction and abandonment mounted
between two quite different, but beautiful femi
nine portraits. Once cur parents lose their infal
libility, we can't help but turn the mirror upon
ourselves and see that we will in seme sense
become our parents regardless. "I am a domestic
failure," says Mann, as Mira-subsumed-by-Mother
looks on.
But, hey, welcome to the Millennium! Mary
Porter's "Happy Meal" takes on richer meaning in
this context, and her Day-Glo fast food offering
smacks the horary lips of den Pcppen’s smiling,
ringer-mapping, rave-dancing, Generation Y
"funkin Hollow Matrilkteal Hoe-Down" ladies.
Sure these gals are vegans on weekdays, but a
Candy-coated palette like Fop pen's suggests the
inescapable New World Order chemistry. Our lead
qml is forever 17, nurtured by the joy and
<4 mothers and grandmothers, trading
phrtrsy female stereotyping for a redefinition cf
mfetijeneratioral relations.
its rueful frankness {a suckling armadillo
beneath maxed-out prophylactics), and "Ella's
Birth" by Michael Guereon is a touching tribute
to a father's adoration-minus the afterbirth.
Dennis Harper's pruned kudzu yoni is gently ren
dered, and tones of respect are consistent
throughout.
Amanda Jane Crouse has best captured a cer
tain post-childbirth set
of enlightenments and
resignations known
only to those who
have stepped through
that doorway of expe
rience. Her mixed-
media sculptural fig
ures—a slender
entreating mother
crouched to the height
of a shy, resistant child
who hesitates
nearby—are more
expressive than
anatomically correct.
Their weathered proportions give way to posture
and narrative, and the plump child who watches
from several feet away eyes a mother wearily
entreating but graceful.
"The Mother Show" includes: Mary Porter,
Deanna Mann, Jen Poppen, Beth Sale, Michael
Guerzon, Chris Hall, Peter Loose, Alicia Caban-
Wheeler, Kathleen Ragan. Dennis Harper, Beth
Thompson, Don Carson, Mike Berry, Carolyn Berk,
Gene Clampitt, Amanda Jane Crouse, Pat Ragan,
VyvyarvHughes, Heartier Balthazar, Autumn
Strickland, Mira Gerard, Leon Herman, Erin
McIntosh, Stacy Johnson and Charlotte Small. ©
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MAY 31, 2000 FLAGPOLE B
