Reading

We Saw This, So Should You: Femme and Joe Hyde’s Certain Trees at Goucher College

Previous Story
Article Image

Artists Work: Chris Owen

Next Story
Article Image

Living With Art: Lat Naylor’s Artfully Rest [...]

An account of two thought-provoking and visually enticing exhibits in Goucher College’s Rosenberg and Silber Galleries by Joan Cox

In the Silber Gallery, a group exhibit curated by gallery director Laura Amussen, titled Femme, features nine artists.

The reception was crowded and full of energy—an energy that was amplified by Maggie Schneider’s live performance piece, Narcissus. Self. Portrait. The artist posed in front of a life-sized mirror—completely entranced with her own reflection—occasionally primping and adjusting her pose for the duration of the reception. A string of white lights were arranged in a circumference on the floor around her to keep gallery-goers from interrupting her performance. In addition, the lights wrapped around the mirror to give Schneider an aura of fame and celebrity.

Femme-2

Femme-3

Femme-4a

Femme-4b

Femme-5

Femme-6

Femme-6a

Femme-7

Femme-8

Femme-9

Femme-10

Femme-11

Femme-12

The center of the gallery is activated by Sandylee Triolo’s video installation, W.F.E.M, that consists of two orange arm chairs, a side table, a green shag carpet and a floor-model tv circa 1960 playing video footage of movies, advertisements and idealized images of women from the past 50 years of media.

The rear wall of the gallery is painted entirely black. The center of the wall juts forward into the gallery space and has a circular cutout revealing a video screen. Closer inspection reveals an enlarged close up of male genitalia. Based on the idea of Courbet’s Origin of the Universe, artist Allana Clarke puts the male body on display for the pleasure of the female gaze. Clarke’s piece, The Black Box Usurps the White Cube Usurps the Black Box, grabs your attention from the other side of the gallery due to the encompassing black wall and the sheer nudity, but it is the scale of the piece that can’t be ignored. At least five times life-size, the shock value overcomes the intimacy it could have provided for a viewer. Allana Clarke and Lauren Kalman also have video works near the entrance to the exhibit that demand your attention— each has imagery that is a bit uncomfortable to watch.

Femme-13

Femme-14

Femme-15

Femme-16

Femme-17

Femme-18

Femme-19

Femme-20

Femme-21

Femme-last

The diversity of works in Femme ranging from the beautiful to the grotesque is tremendous: there are intimate paintings by Claire Girodie, and Judith Peck, beautiful and intriguing photographs by Alana Beall and Donna Feldman Lasky and understated, but still surprising, mixed media works by Marilyn Gomez.

Maggie Schneider will be present in the gallery once per week to perform Narcissus. Self. Portrait. from 2pm – 4pm on Friday, February 21st; Saturday, March 1st; and Friday, March 7th.  Femme is on display February 4th through March 9th, 2014. The art can be viewed Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Please visit www.goucher.edu/silber for more information.

Hyde_1

While you are on the Goucher campus, don’t miss Joseph Hyde’s solo exhibition, Certain Trees, in the Rosenberg Gallery. His haunting black and white photographs of trees are evocative of human forms.

In his fine art practice, Hyde photographs trees obsessively. Within their gnarled and out stretched limbs he finds sentient and gestural qualities. Wrought with these familiar humanlike characteristics, Hyde’s photos draw the viewer in and offer a quiet place for contemplation. Recently, while visiting La Push, Washington he found primal elements of nature in pristine condition; big water, big rocks, big wood, and heavy, restless skies. Working in tandem with his surroundings, Hyde’s most recent compositions beautifully capture various aspects of unspoiled landscapes, weathered branches, and protruding land masses.

Hyde_2

Hyde_3

Hyde_4

Hyde_5

Hyde-6

Hyde-7

Hyde-8

Hyde-9

Certain Trees, is on display January 11th through March 2nd, 2014. This exhibit, which is free and open to the public, can be viewed Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Please visit www.goucher.edu/rosenberg for more information.

* Author and photographer Joan Cox is a Baltimore-based painter and a graduate of the MFA program at MassArts.

Related Stories
Congrats to Hellen Ascoli, Amy Boone-McCreesh, and Sam Mack

Three Sondheim Finalists Will Exhibit at The Walters Art Museum Before the $30,000 Prize is Awarded

Baltimore news updates from independent & regional media

This week's news includes: J.M. Giordano's Key Bridge community photo essay, changes at BOPA, Area 405 returns, Baker Award finalists announced, MacKenzie Scott's $2M donation to two Baltimore non-profits, Celebrating Joyce J. Scott, Maryland Film Festival updates, and more!

The Current Exhibit at BmoreArt's C+C Space is the First of Three Based on Our City of Artists Book

City of Artists, BmoreArt's first full-length book, sold out in December, but is now available through a second printing

The best weekly art openings, events, and calls for entry happening in Baltimore and surrounding areas.

This Week:  I don’t dream of labor exhibition ongoing at the Galleries at CCBC, Visiting Voices: Supporting Disabled Artist-Educators and Learners lecture at MICA's Hurwitz Center, Womxn of the World Poetry Slam at the Baltimore War Memorial, Trans Day of Visibility at Red Emma's, and more!