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THE LYNDON HOUSE AND ITS REFUSES
The Chosen Ones: With two juried exhibitions (the Lyndon
House and OCAF) happening simultaneously, we are given a
chance to survey the local art scene in a cross-section of media
and artistic approaches. The 36th annual Juried Exhibition at
the Lyndon House Arts Center includes 160 pieces of artwork
from local artists. Curated by Carla Hanzal (The Mint Museum),
the exhibition indexes all varieties of two- and three-dimen
sional work: paintings, prints, photographs, sculpture, jewelry
and fiber art—with both familiar names and new talent in the
mix.
Providing a fitting welcome to the exhibition is Jonathan
Jacquefs "Daisy and Victor (The Ongoing Conversation about
Art)," as you enter the gallery. This allegorical painting in oil
on panel depicts two children sitting at a round wood table
scattered with objects including art history textbooks tied with
string—which the girl slurps up like spaghetti—and a picture
of Goya's "Saturn Devouring His Son." Upstairs, Jacquet's
"Red Hen of Clarke County" is a magnificent chicken painted
mid-cluck in a faux-folk style—a likely mascot for our local
Pro-Chicken contingent. The large folk art paintings of June
F. Johnston are rendered in acrylic on a rough, cement-like
surface. Dark grays and browns with splashes of light and color
depict subjects like a homeless woman sitting on a park bench,
or a man on a porch rocking chair with a church fan in his lap.
High-profile Athens artists Jaime Bull and Ar.dy Cherewick
also appear in the show. Bull's "Chimney Swifts," a brightly
colored painting on a gold background looks like a tribal mask
and reminds me of Chris Ofili's paintings (without the cow
dung). Cherewick's "Ocean Loves Croker, Croker Loves the Sea"
is highly textured with paint built up to create a choppy, rip
pling surface washing over broken bodies.
Several photographers are represented here as well. "Murano
Abstract: A Venice Landfill" by Thom Houser is a rectangular
"landscape" of shards of colored Murano glass amid trash and
weeds. A colorful composition of such precious debris makes a
pointed juxtaposition of trash and treasure. Controlled chaos
appears in David Noah's "Birds arid Wires"—a small black-and-
white photo of birds sitting on and flying through telephone
wires. The square shape of the photograph emphasizes the
geometric composition and shows the photographer's patience
(and maybe a little luck) in getting just the right shot of birds
filling the spaces and breaking free of the grid to fly from the
picture plane. Documenting beautiful decay in domestic scenes
is Ginger Goekjian, with two photographs, including "Aunt
Lucy's Sink": a reverent image of a sink in an old bathroom lit
up like a shrine with yellow light.
Representing the three-dimensional category, local artist
Cindy Jerrell has two stage constructions with puppet charac
ters playing different roles. "A Song for You" stars a mythical
cat-like woman in a burgundy dress and ballet slippers playing
the lute. Behind her, a stag leaps through the sylvan night like
a lost scene from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
(See last week's Flagpole cover.) Perhaps the most stunning
art work is not a painting or a photograph, but Olivia Terrell's
"Honeycomb Bib" necklace. This complex piece is as much
sculpture as it is wearable art: a copper neck
lace fashioned as a honeycomb with golden
and bronze enamel glistening in the chambers.
Some cnambers are more built up than others,
giving it a topographic quality that is simply
breathtaking.
The exhibition fills four rooms and includes
fine examples of artwork in other media not
described here. Check out the show through
May 10 and don't forget to stop by the
"Refuses" exhibition located at the Bob M.
Snipes Water Resources Center on Barber
Street to see 25 works by Athens artists not
included in the juried collection.
< Down the Road a Piece: The 16th annual
Southworks juried exhibition at the Oconee
Cultural Arts Foundation is also on display at
the OCAF building in Watkinsville. Curated by
Phaedra Siebert (Arkansas Art Center), this
show pulls artwork from across the country with
a strong representation by local artists. Again,
a survey like this provides a snapshot of artistic
life in our community. Knowing that several
artists are represented both here and at the
Lyndon House indicates the artists' interest in
participating in these kinds of events and the
curators' shared taste in choosing their work to
represent the local scene.
On the whole, the selection of fiber and
3-D artwork is stronger here, with Caroline
Montague's bronze "New Stag" sculpture
winning the Best in Show award. Elizabeth
Barton's "Double Exposure Spire" collage quilt
is also noteworthy, an abstracted and jewel-
toned architectural silhouette against a gray-
and-black background. A new name for me is
Walt Curlee (Phenix City, AL), whose highly
controlled and detailed pastoral scenes take on
Currier and Ives with an almost manic preci
sion. While at OCAF, don't miss Jim Collins' large mixed-media
box assemblages of found objects and worn-out industrial
materials. T hese make for romantic storytelling sure to please
any fan of Joseph Cornell. The Southworks exhibition is on
view through May 7.
GMOA Surrealist Exhibition Events: On Apr. 21 at 5:30 p.m.,
Arielle Saiber (Bowdoin College) and Elliot King (University
of Colorado and the University of Denver) will discuss
"Hyperdimensionality in Salvador Dali's Illustrations of Dante's
'Paradiso'." Also on Apr. 21st from 7 p.m. to midnight is
"Keepin' It Surreal: Student Night at GMOA." The event will
include live music, crafting, a photo booth, tours and the
Surrealists' parlor game, Exquisite Corpse.
Bloomin' Heck: Enrich your enjoyment of the spectacular spring
blooms we've been witnessing with a drawing workshop at
the State Botanical Garden on Tuesday, Apr. 26 from 4-6 p.m.
Artist Toni Carlucd will teach techniques for drawing flora and
fauna in this free workshop. Pre-registration is required, call
(706) 542-6156 to reserve a spot.
Caroline Barratt arts@flagpole.com
Jim Collins' ariwork is part of the 16th annual Southworks exhibition at OCAF through May 7.
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