Snaps of The 2008 Connecticut Biennial at the Mattatuck Museum

The Mattatuck Museum
144 W. Main Street
Waterbury, CT (203) 753-0381
2008 Connecticut Biennial: Speak to Me
Through Jan. 11, 2009

Artists in the exhibition: Krysten Bailey, Diane Brainerd, Ellen Carey, Deborah Dancy, Steven DiGiovanni, Ted Efremoff, Sam Ekwurtzel, Letty Fonteyne, Gene Gort, Zbigniew Grzyb, Nathan Lewis, Christopher Mir, Olu Oguibe, Yolando Vasquez Petrocelli, Caleb Portfolio, Kerri Quirk, Nelson Ramirez, and Peter Waite.

Installation shots:







Sal Scalora, former Director of UConn’s Benton Museum, and Janice LaMotta, owner of La Motta Fine Art and former owner of Paesaggio Fine Art, have curated the Mattatuck Museum’s inaugural Connecticut Biennial, Speak to Me. According to their curatorial statement, “excellence in art making” rather than any specific theme was the selection criterion; thus, the work is conceptually diverse, and features new projects by young artists alongside work by older, well-knowns like Deborah Dancy (formerly Muirhead) and Peter Waite. Take a look at these snapshots, check out the links provided (click on artists' names), and try to guess which curator selected each artist. My choice for "Best in Show" goes to Gene Gort's video, Narcissus O.C.D. Gort describes the video as "curious, funny and melancholic." I think it's a perfect metaphor for my life in the studio.

Work by individual artists:

Krysten Bailey

Well-worked prints scrutinize (and mimic) physical and visual decay.

Diane Brainerd (no link available)

Paintings "picturing spaciousness and quiet."

Ellen Carey

Exploring the sealed chemical envelopes of Polaroid film to create photographs that neither narrate nor document.

Deborah Dancy

Digital images that locate "mystery, tension, ambiguity and innuendo."

Steven DiGiovanni

"Original Sin," painted from digital images, ruminates on the uncertainty of the artist's future with his fiancée.

Ted Efremoff

Performance documentation (video) and an installation using objects from the museum's collection investigate the nature of collecting.

Sam Ekwurtzel

Slideshow of TV screen images culled from eBay listings for used TVs. (I wish my image was reflected in the TV.)

Letty Fonteyne

Bronze chainmail-like vests combine a love of knitting and grasses, leafs, and twigs.

Gene Gort

Two videos investigating absence, symbol and allegory.

Zbigniew Grzyb

The painting process calls the shots. "There is no content other than the image."

Nathan Lewis

"I use archetypes to construct narratives that comment on the macrocosm of our culture-at-large and the microcosm of the art world."

Christopher Mir

Paintings based on collages with Jungian allusions.

Olu Oguibe

"Yankee Fetish Series:" Comparing 19th century clocks with African fetishes.

Yolanda Vasquez-Petrocelli

Self-portraits exploring "my own vulnerability and strength."

Caleb Portfolio

Finding ways to "mess with our normal picture-taking methods." (Sorry for this awful image. )

Kerri Quirk

"Born with a neurological disorder that has resulted in autistic symtoms and hearing impairment that requires communication by signing, Quirk connects with the world through her paintings."

Nelson Ramirez (no link available)

"As a priest of the Palo Monte religion, I have created this altar in the public space of the museum in the spirit of personal and community healing."

Peter Waite


Detail:

"All in all, she's a fine ship; suffering a few leaks, to be expected, and perhaps the side effects of too much acid."