The first two parts of my look at the Big Show—looking first at portraits and second at abstract paintings—involved speculation about Juror Dr. Kanitra Fletcher’s curatorial vision. Because there were so many portraits and so many abstract paintings, it seems that these are genres that Fletcher specifically wanted to include. But the rest of the exhibit doesn’t have that focus. Like all previous Big Shows, there is a variety of artworks. Shall we begin?
Naomi Peterson’s Mud Pies are three stoneware pieces of pie. Stoneware is a term for ceramics fired in a very high temperature kiln. The pie pieces are almost identical to one another—there are various drips of clay that are different, and of course the colors are different. I love green olives, but I don’t think I want it in a pie. What I like about the colors of Mud Pies is that they are cartoon-like.
Kamila Szczesna had several pieces in last year’s Big Show (an edition of the annual show that unusually included multiple examples of each artist’s work). That work featured hair, as does Hide No. 1, but also included hand-blown glass spheres. Hide No. 1 is a hank of hair growing out from the wall. Creepy.
Layla Bispo recently got a MFA at UH (at least Bispo was in the MFA show this spring). They seem to use deconstructed found objects in their work. Certainly that is the case with Violin. Silenced. It is a very poignant piece, intriguing to me because it is made of the object it depicts. Bispo used a actual violin to depict a violin.
When I came across Crystalline Vessel of Memories Devoid by Anthony Pabillano, I thought at first someone had left a bag there by mistake. But no—the purse is the artwork. And it’s not a Claes Oldenburg-style recreation of a common object transformed (if, say, Pabillano had made this purse out of glass). But as far as I can tell, this is a piece of old-fashioned basket weaving. Indeed, when I look at Pabillano’s Instagram, it’s full of hand-made handbags. However, if one checks out the website devoted to his artwork, it appears to be mostly painted portraits, which seems like they would have greatly appealed to the portrait-loving juror. I have no idea if Pabillano also submitted paintings of people when he submitted work to the Big Show—maybe this was the only piece that Fletcher saw. It has a humble presence sitting there on the plinth, as if someone came home from shopping and just tossed it there.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Great God Pan Is Dead to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.