Welcome Back Show

Each Fall semester, Mason Gross hosts an annual "Welcome Back" show in the gallery space. The show, a culmination of work from both rising MFA 2's and faculty, demonstrate a continuation of long-standing exploration as well as an indicator of the artists standing within Mason Gross's curriculum. In addition, the show is an invitation space for working contemporary artists to display pieces and this year, a host for a memorial show to an artist who has passed away.

My Impression of the show was underwhelmed at first. Aesthetically, I found a lot of trouble relating to the pieces present and trying to reconcile what was there with my own work. My second run through was more fruitful as I was able to digest the pieces with a clearer mind and I found more conceptual bearing in the overall show. The first work to peak my interests was "Endless" the sculptural installation by Barbara Madsen. I have a high respect for Barb as both an artist and a teacher, and I find a lot of resonance in her work. "Endless" a mixed media installation piece, consists of a large white box with two leg supports and a pink cable running out of the top. The interior of the box has pictures of clay sculpted heads, which are visible from the open top to the box and a small door on the side. The piece was originally lost on me as i could not view it as anything more than just a white box. Knowing Barbs aesthetic and her spin towards conceptual art and feminism, I tried looking at the box as a subject and not an object. "Endless" became female in its form. Barb loaded the work with symbolism and situated it as a woman and not an object (adding another layer to how women are objectified). The box has 2 legs for support much like a human stands on two legs. The box is a container, a womb that hold holds and nurtures life, in the pieces case clay heads, unpainted and unfired, relating to development of ideas, artwork and in particular man (all heads were male). The pink cable running out of the box is an umbilical cord, a connection and lifeline for man to woman and ultimately to the outside. The doors on the side of the box represent a birth canal or a vagina, the escape from the womb. Barb Articulates, in a clean almost bare manner, interdependence of man, woman and the connection to the outer world.
The next piece to catch my eye was a print by Anne Mckeown, another faculty member. "Float" which consists of handmade paper with watermark, mitsumata applique and silkscreen, with the work of Printer Kristyna Comer, drew my attention with her use of figurative lines and a muted color palette. The piece embodies a harmonic duality which give it an energetic quality. It is disjointed yet clean, rich in detail, but subdued in color. Anne balances her aesthetic on a hairpin and makes a work that at first glance is flat and simple, but on further inspection is has depth and complexity.
In contrast to Bar and Anne's works, Gabbe Grodin presented pieces that I absolutely did not enjoy. "Untitled" consisted of various gouache and watercolor paintings on paper hung at variable dimensions. The work had the appearance of amateur quality, her paper was not cleanly cut, nor was her mounting proper (tape was exposed and paintings were falling off the wall). Her images were simple and lacked technical refinement that I crave in drawings. The more I looked at the work the more I disliked it, However, the more I looked the more i noticed successes within the pieces. The water paintings were subtly executed with muted tones and careful articulation. Her cell phone screen faded and glowed similar to a real screen and added a sense of illusionistic electronic space. Finally, there were spots and color blotches throughout the works that added drama and visual interest to overall lackluster imagery. I left not just with an understanding, but an appreciation of her pieces.
The last work that caught my eye was "Untitled" a work in progress sculpture by Gary Kuehn. The piece was a block of granite fused to a steel cube with steel rods intertwined. I got a sense of tension and past (granite) intertwined with the present (steel). I respected the ambition of putting a work in progress up as both a display of the piece and the process.
The show like the pieces, at first glance were dead to me, but by allowing myself further interaction and sitting with them, came to life before my eyes. It set the stage for an exciting year to come.