Two new exhibits opened last week at the Frye Art Museum. At first glance they might seem to have nothing in common, but on closer look there's much to tie them together: wit, mastery of their media and conceptual depth to complement the aesthetics.
David C. Kane and Willie Cole are both regional artists with strong ties to their respective home states. They are males in their 50s, thus in mid career, and both offer us works of sly humor with rich historical antecedents.
"David C. Kane: Fiat Mambo" is the first solo museum exhibition of the work of a Washington figurative painter who has won many awards in his 25-year career but who is not yet as well known as he should be.
Kane takes his images from pop culture and art history. Walk through the galleries and you'll see a hint of Warhol here, a touch of El Greco there. There's a tip of the hat to the Egyptians and Greeks, a nod to Thomas Hart Benton and a great deal of reverence for Picasso and the Cubists. Kane plays with the ideas and styles of his forebears. He embraces their techniques but places his own stamp on them and often lodges them in settings taken from movies or science fiction.
In interviews he says that he is drawn to figurative art because he likes the connection the work has with its audience. By deliberately setting his figures in ambiguous situations, he encourages his viewers to try to fill in the narrative. That provides much of the enjoyment of this exhibition.
Each painting has its story, but what is it? What's going on with that woman sitting by the window in front of the guy with the gun? That couple in what appears to be a bedroom - is it a tryst? has it just ended badly? Why do the three characters in what seems to be a happy beach scene have such sour looks on their faces? And what's with that painting with the light-filled hole in the sky? Are the aliens about to descend and carry away the earthbound family, or is this a holy revelation?
In some of his more recent work, Kane paints on burlap coffee bags. The weave of the bags is just like that of canvas, only in larger scale, so the images are softer, grainier. This group of paintings includes portrayals of isolated suburban figures alone in their leafy environment and stark black-and-white depictions of mystical gardens; both subjects encourage consideration of human frailty and fantasies, of our longing and isolation.
"Anxious Objects: Willie Cole's Favorite Brands" showcases this New Jersey artist's thought-provoking, witty and ironic assemblages and images. Cole works with cast-off objects of everyday life, transforming them into powerful works of art. He looks for inspiration in the religion, mythology and culture of traditional West African societies and mixes those concepts with contemporary Pop art and Minimalism. Like Kane, his works are fraught with meaning.
His trademark object is the common household steam iron, an item freighted with symbolism. It is easily connected to the domestic role of generations of African American woman, as well as to Ogun, the Yoruba god of iron and war. Then too, when Cole employs the iron to burn patterns into cloth, one is reminded of the branding iron that was sometimes used to mark slaves. Interestingly, the patterns he creates on cloth look very much like those found on fabrics from West Africa.
Steam irons and the impression of their face plates are found throughout this show. Ingeniously, he uses these imprints to portray images of slave ships, portraits and masks, and there are wooden irons as large as a loveseat. But irons aren't the only discarded objects that find their way into his sculptures.
He loves shoes, worn, run-down, high-heeled shoes of every color. And again, he uses them with enormous creativity. There's a chair made out of shoes, a mandala and a marvelous Nepalese Buddha. For the Buddha, the black heel tips of a pair of white shoes make up the eye, the pointed toe of a red shoe is the tongue, and an array of gold shoes creates the belt of this standing figure. The wall label next to it includes a picture of the original statue. The similarities are remarkable.
This first full survey of Cole's work was curated by Patterson Sims, director of the Montclair Art Museum.
It's on a five-city tour, and was coordinated for the Frye by its chief curator and director of exhibitions, Robin Held.
Because there are so many levels of visual delight and meaning to both Cole's and Kane's works, both of these exhibits are particularly good for families. The children will love Cole's shoe pieces as well as assemblages made of bicycle parts, hair dryers and plumbing fixtures. It's a game of discovery that can lead to rich discussions. And the ambiguous paintings by Kane, his movie and science fiction references, can encourage all manner of storytelling.
Cheers to the Frye for two fine summer experiences.
'DAVID C. KANE: FIAT MAMBO'
Through Oct. 7
'ANXIOUS OBJECTS: WILLIE COLE'S FAVORITE BRANDS'
Through Sept. 3
Frye Art Museum, 704 Terry Ave.
Tuesday-Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursdays until 8 p.m., Sunday noon to 5 p.m.
622-9250
Free parking and free admission
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